Could This Go Anywhere?
by Rena Redhead
Summary: Sometimes our past demons come back to haunt us. When the future collides with the past, the consequences may be set in stone. Pairings are what the series dictates.
1. Chapter 1: Bludhaven

**Disclaimer:** Let's look at this logically, why would I be writing fan fiction if I owned the Teen Titans or any of the DC Comics characters and places that are mentioned? If I owned them, this would be in an episode or comic or something, not here. So yeah, I don't own them. I'm still trying to get over it.

Summary: Sometimes our past demons come back to haunt us.

General: Action/Adventure/General

**Author's Note:** Well, I'm back! You knew I couldn't stay away from Fan Fiction forever. My break wasn't even a month! Man, it feels good to be back. It's like I have this new replenished fountain of imagination and I can't wait to start using it. Now, my last multi-chapter Fan Fiction was "What?" with the switching POVs. This Fan Fiction isn't a sequel though, as some have requested. I'm sorry, but I just can't think of one at the moment. Maybe it will come to me while writing this, but I don't know. But I do have some treats planned to those who liked "What?" in this story though. And also I want to extend a big thank you to all who have reviewed any of my stories! You guys rock!

So what is this Fan Fic about? Well, you have to read it to find out! I know that this is under the characters "Robin" and "Slade". I can't give too much away right now, but I will say that their dispute is the major plot line. Unlike my last Fan Fic, this one will incorporate all of the Titans in almost every chapter (This chapter only mentions two, though). The pairings are what the show dictates. It also takes place at least after the second season. I actually thought this up sometime last year in I guess mid-May. Now I think I've typed enough of an Author's Note up and I should let you read my new story. So on to the my new story "Could This Go Anywhere?"

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter One: Bludhaven**

The cold streets of Bludhaven were being pounded by an icy rain that somehow found it's way everywhere. Through the cracks in the streets and sidewalks, the water would swiftly dart here and there to find the lowest part of ground which would end up being in the river, Avalon. In the slums of Bludhaven, the sewers were overflowing with the rain water. Eight days straight the sky had been darker then normal. It reminded the darkly clad figure, who was looming on the rooftops (soaked to the bone), of the month of April in places like Gotham and Steel.

He didn't mind being wet. No one could stop the weather after all, except perhaps Thunder and Lightning. He smiled at the memory. Jumping through the vent and into the ventilation shaft, the tall, ebony-haired man took care to not let a drop of water slip through any shafts below. Finally the old and abandoned area of the factory beams were visible. Except it didn't look so abandoned anymore. Gears were turning. The man grimaced. Gears were always harder to fight around, but that wasn't the main reason that he didn't like them.

He pushed the memory out of his thoughts and assessed the situation at hand: five thugs, three had hand guns, and one was the apparent leader and he had a machine gun near by. He rolled his eyes thinking that machine guns were perhaps the bulkiest things in the world for a weapon. Honestly. He knew that they weren't working for Blockbuster, who was currently on a retreat to escape away from a court date. So it was seemingly plain and simple, what they were doing. They were trying to get their names in the paper while the kingpin of Bludhaven was gone by stealing the hand-held computers this place was making. Idiots. Inside the old factory, a vent exploded and hit one of the thugs that had a hand gun.

This was going to be easy.

A scream from one of the men split the air.

"Nightwing!"

It was like they had just seen the Dark Knight himself come into the scene. Less than two minutes later, all five men were KO'd and cuffed. The police had been notified and Nightwing, protégée of Batman, had made his exit. He was eager to get home and dry off. Maybe Kori would still be awake when he got back. If only he had stayed three minutes instead of two. He would have noticed a sinister figure of a one-eyed man emerging from a rotating gear.

Nightwing however, didn't. It was late. Really late. He knew that while Kori never complained, he hadn't been the newly-wed husband that he should be since he was always working. _'We didn't even get a honeymoon retreat!'_ He thought irritably, as he swung around on grappling lines and jumped over rooftops. It was guilt in the pit of his stomach and he hated it. Finally, he made it to 1013 Parkthorn Avenue.

Kori was asleep in bed when Nightwing returned home. _'Oh well,'_ He thought. He smiled as he looked at her sleeping form. She was his angel. Her silky red hair was spread out on the pillow and the blankets had been pulled up just above her elbows. Softly, he kissed her forehead and a small smile trickled onto his face.

He remember when he first had kissed her. In a split second, everything he had known about life had escaped him because it made no sense to him whatsoever that the alien beauty would kiss him. Little did he know what would eventually happen especially because he was always reminded of the danger love could bring when he fought the villains of Jump. 'It could never happen' was his thought process. But she proved him wrong and that diamond ring on her finger was the proof as was the golden ring on his own.

He went to the dresser and decided to change out of the soaking wet suit that he had worn all night. What replaced it was a pair of blue jeans and a black T-shirt. Richard Grayson went into the living room of their apartment and sat down. As tired as he was, he knew better than to hope that he'd get an ounce of sleep. After all, the police force in Bludhaven never rested and that was his occupation. Well, half of them never rested because the crime rate was so high. Others worked to help the crime rate increase. Hearing the rustling of sheets told him to go back into the bedroom.

Kori was just in the middle of a dream was all. He went into the kitchen and began to pull out the ingredients for a morning breakfast of pancakes: flour, eggs, milk, even Zorkaberries which he himself could never seem to stomach without feeling sick. Soon he managed to get a lush breakfast ready. Zorkaberry pancakes, regular pancakes, hashbrowns, applesauce, orange juice, and a mustard dipping sauce could describe the breakfast, all of it smelling delicious. Richard only hoped that it would be.

Tip toeing into their room, Richard managed not to make a sound. He sat on the bed, placing the tray on his lap and gently shook Kori awake. Her green eyes fluttered open and she smiled at Richard.

"Morning Star," he said, "I made you breakfast."

Seeing the tray, Kori's smile widened.

"Richard, you didn't have to do that. What about your sleep? Didn't you say that you fell asleep at your desk a couple days ago?" she asked concerned. He placed the tray on the bedside table and scooted closer to her thin frame.

He held her in his arms with a touch as delicate as the way one would hold a fragile piece of porcelain. Softly as to not crush it, but firm so that it wouldn't fall away from your grasp and onto the floor. Kori loved that about him and gave him a sweet kiss. Hating the fact that human beings needed air, they pulled apart. Kori rested her head on his strong shoulder and he ran his fingers through her crimson red hair. She looked up at his sleep-deprived eyes again waiting for an answer, even if the kiss sort of satisfied her.

"Bludhaven criminals never rest," he whispered.

She nodded and understood. Just as she was sipping her glass of orange juice, Richard's pocket started to play the Simple Plan "Shut Up" ring tone at the highest level imaginable. He had personally changed it to that song because it would always wake him up if he was ever drowsy. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black colored verizon phone.

As the top was flipped open, Kori could hear Richard's response, "Officer Grayson. Uh huh, uh huh, WHAT?!?!"

Richard's scream nearly frightened Kori half to death. She looked at him in alarm. Richard mouthed 'Sorry' to her and got up. Instead of going for his police uniform, he went for the closet and pulled out a dry Nightwing suit and began to put it on, all the while talking to his co-worker.

"Yeah, I'll call for back up. I'll be there as soon as I can. How many police are there now? 40, got it. See you there," He closed the phone and tossed it to Kori who was looking very concerned, "Get the voice changer. Call as me to all the guys on my cell phone marked co-worker."

"What's going on, Dick?" she inquired.

"Some guys are threatening to bomb the subway system at Mainhaven Station. They have a couple hostages. They don't know who it is," he offered as an explanation. He was now fully clothed in the blue and black suit.

Kori got up and started doing what he had told her to do. He went to the attic entrance to the roof. Springing out, he automatically leapt down to the streets. He stopped himself with a grapple just before he landed. Retracting the grapple, Nightwing looked over to the cellar, kicked it open, and hopped onto the vehicle waiting inside. The hum of the motorcycle roared and Nightwing sped off in towards Mainhaven Station.

What worried Nightwing wasn't the bomb really. What bothered him was that he didn't have a clue as to who had the capability to do this and would.

-T-

**A/N:** So what do you think? Please review! But don't flame me; give constructive criticism instead if you didn't like it. I know it screams RobinXStarfire pairing in this chapter. Well, I told you that the pairings would be what the show dictates. So don't flame me for that either. For those of you who like RavenXRobin, don't worry. Their mind-bond plays an important role in this story, promise. Anyway, it won't focus on pairings every chapter. I actually wrote it this way to show where Nightwing's at right now in his life. Also, I do know a good portion about Nightwing, so don't worry about that either. For updating, I'll generally try to get one chapter out every two weeks. But you may see a chapter every week for the maximum speed of my updating. I didn't think this would go anywhere, but I guess my mind proved me wrong. I'm still writing! I hope you're glad I'm back. I'm glad I'm back. Later!

Rena


	2. Chapter 2: An Old Enemy

**Disclaimer:** I'm currently watching Batman Begins and thinking, yes, it would be awesome to own anything that Warner Brothers or DC Comics owned. But the sad reality is that I don't. So that means I don't own Teen Titans or any other DC Comic related thing mentioned in this story.

**Author's Note:** I actually am watching Batman Begins right now. If only it was 2008 and the sequel to this movie was out. Oh well. I want to say thank you to all of those who reviewed my first chapter. The speed of the story is picking up! I hope you enjoy it! Now onto Chapter Two!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere? **

**Chapter Two: An Old Enemy **

The rain had intensified to the point where it seemed like balls of cold water were hitting the road in front of him. He ran through who could be doing this. Lady Vic? Torque? No. No, no, no! The little word shot down every thought or idea. His mind went through lists of names of villains that had been dominate in Bludhaven that he had memorized to a T, but nothing fit. Not really, anyway.

The closer he got to Mainhaven, the louder the sirens of police vehicles could be heard. He wasn't going to stop and chat with the police. They would talk and talk and talk and never do anything, much like some politicians. People were in danger. He needed to get them out. As he came closer, he turned onto the main street. The crowd heard the roar of his engine and quickly parted. Without even caring that it was his boss's car, Nightwing road on top of it and soared into the sky. Lightning split the air. He dismounted the motorcycle and landed on the escalator heading down into the ground. The bike landed perfectly on the sidewalk.

Most of the lights had been shattered and he could hear people. Sounds reached his ears as they echoed. Some were moaning, some were whispering, and some... some were the sounds of even children crying in their parent's arms, scared and helpless against whatever threat was down there. _'What's the world coming to?'_ he thought. As he came into the center of Mainhaven station, he peeked around and saw a mass of people in huddled forms on the ground. He saw well muscled men standing over them. Assessing the situation once again, he figured that whoever was carrying this out had followers (very loyal ones by the look of it).

He could hear it ticking and if it had been in a tunnel or in the railway, it would have been louder. This bomb was quiet, yet Nightwing's ears were adept enough to notice it. It was no where visible, so that left only one place it could be. The bomb was planted in the control room in the center of the station. As silent as a cat, he made his way to the door. As he fumbled with the lock, he heard the scratching of wires. _'Open the door and the place goes Boom! Great,'_ He thought.

Something didn't feel right though. He could feel himself being watched. Without even seeing the person behind him, he swung a furious kick and found himself hitting hard metal of a guard which he had assumed was a real person. These weren't people. They were robots! Back up was coming. Nightwing wasted no time in realizing that it was better to handle this quickly now that he had been caught. With a yell, Nightwing pulled out his Polymer Escrima Sticks and began to rip the machines apart. It took him a good fifteen minutes to get rid of them all, but as he was fighting, he couldn't help but think that something was very, very familiar about them and wrong.

When body pieces of the robots were all that remained, he freed the hostages and told them where to go. He couldn't lead them out. He had to somehow disarm the bomb. Going back to the control room, he noticed the beeping was quickly increasing in rate. Nightwing's masked eyes widened. He was too late.

Three... Nightwing ran.

Two... He leapt.

One.

_**BOOM!!! **_

The blast went off. People could feel its power above ground.

The lone shield of the suit kept Nightwing safe. Shaking his head, Nightwing got up trying to fit the pieces together. If the person who had set this up wanted something like money, they would have said so. This seemed to be like getting people's attention instead. And somehow, Nightwing couldn't shake the feeling that it was his attention that this threat was trying to get. And there were robots. Robots. This had been planned and it had a reason.

Fire lined the area along the tracks with bits of concrete out of place. Cracks from above let drops of water fall down slowly. It was eerie. Nightwing slowly went towards the rubble, but decided to analyze the debris at work later. It was time to go. As he began to run down the abandoned hall way, he heard something. Someone was still there. He couldn't see them, but he knew it. It was only one. Where though?

"Impressive, really," A voice as fine as the blade of a knife cut the air. Nightwing froze. So did Richard along with someone else. Metal guarded shoes made their way up the concrete floor and behind Nightwing. A head leaned down over his shoulder.

"As an adult, you've become your own team, haven't you?" Nightwing spun around, ready to deliver an elbow to the person's face, but was stopped. His elbow bent into the same uncomfortable and quite literally painful position as it had every other time.

"But, if only you had undertaken my deal. You could have accomplished so much more," Nightwing looked up into the cold eye that was watching him.

"How..." he never finished. _'What? He wasn't... this wasn't... how could this... How did he...?' _

"What? Did you think I wouldn't be able to find you in the future... Robin?" Nightwing could only stare and gap.

"Look at you, though. Look at the man you've grown into. Strong, keen senses, smart... Although, there's still a child in you isn't there? Or rather a teenager," he chuckled and leaned in to whisper in Nightwing's ear, "A teenager that I could still tame into my apprentice."

Nightwing had had enough. He pulled his arm out of the man's clutches and backed away. Eyes narrowed, Nightwing leapt fully into the fight. They spared. Out of anger, Nightwing fought without thinking about the fight and began to lose. It wasn't like he was dead. He was supposed to be in Jump, though. Tim had told him days ago he had attacked the team again... And that the mercenary had been making anonymous phone calls... That was all, though. Why would he suddenly come here when he had been focusing on Ravager leaving to become a hero? And the robots, he hadn't used them recently at all. Nightwing hated these mind-games.

"Your fighting style hasn't gotten this bad, has it, Robin?" The man asked as he delivered a blow to knock the wind out of Nightwing, who stumbled to the floor.

"No, I thought I'd hold back on you, Slade," He responded.

"You never learned to pass a lie with me, did you?" Slade kicked Nightwing in the chest. He realized he had to get out of here. As he tried to roll away, he felt the firm hands of the older man seize him by the back of his shirt.

"Running away?" Slade asked angering Nightwing even more, "Tell me, is that teenager in you screaming right now? For your own information, you might have grown, but you'll never stop being the lost apprentice I once had."

Nightwing kicked Slade away. He had to get out of here. He began to run for the escalator. Just as he reached the escalator, the hero turned around and noticed he wasn't being followed. He didn't even hear any footsteps. This wasn't right. As soon as he got out he raced for a safehaven of his own. Grabbing his motorcycle, he went for the nearest rented out basement that he had. He rushed inside and changed into a clean police uniform and pulled back his hair neatly. He called up Kori.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Listen, Kori, I want you to stay home. Don't go out of the house," He told her, trying to keep panic out of his voice.

"Why? Richard, what's wrong?" Kori never missed anything.

"Just... Promise me you won't leave till I get back. I want to get more information. It's probably nothing, but I just have a bad feeling about this, okay? Just please, promise me," He responded.

On the other end, Kori knew something was troubling him, but answered, "Okay. I love you."

"Love you too," Richard told her, "Bye."

"Bye."

He made sure to come out inconspicuously at the station. When he got back, no one seemed to have noticed that he hadn't been there beforehand. Good, he was already dodging enough of his job as it was. When he asked whether or not he was needed to help with the investigation, he was told no. _'Too Bad,'_ he thought. Before leaving, he got the codes for the evidence room drawers that the debris would be kept in.

He made a round through the city and went back to the office. He looked over some cases, talked to his co-workers, went to Subway for a sandwich, and filed a report. Nothing new. But underneath his calm exterior, a panicked Richard was searching his mind for an explanation for that Slade's appearance in Bludhaven. He found none.

He got home late.

It was quiet. He went to their bedroom and changed into another uniform. Kori was asleep, a phone nearby. Nightwing nodded to himself trying to convince himself that there wasn't a reason to worry. He began to head for the living room window when a voice behind him stopped him.

"Did you think you could shake me, Robin?"

He turned around. Slade stood casually against the kitchen counter watching him. How long had he been there? Why had Slade suddenly had this much interest in him again? Why had he suddenly started calling him Robin when Robin was Tim Drake? Had he been following him? If so, how much does he know about him? Questions raced through his mind. Slade was right. His teenage persona was starting to come back and resurface. Nightwing didn't like it one bit.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Slade seemed amused, and didn't answer the question, "Seems you've made a life for yourself. And by the looks of things, you've found yourself a wife... cute."

"Slade if you dare harm her in any way, I swear I'll..." Nightwing began.

Slade interrupted, "Don't worry, I haven't touched her. I don't need to, to get to you."

"That isn't answering my question, Slade," Nightwing retorted.

"True, it doesn't, but maybe this will," said the mastermind.

He tossed a small pellet at Nightwing, who caught it in his hand. A sudden flash made Nightwing's eyes widen and gas was pouring out of the pellet, softly and quietly. In less then ten seconds, Nightwing was unconscious on the ground. _'Wha... Kori... No...'_ The last thing that Nightwing saw was Slade standing still at his kitchen counter. Slade was unaffected because the grates in his mask served as a filter. Slowly, he walked over to Nightwing. Oh, how many fights they had been in? He hadn't been all that pleased with how the future looked. So now he was going to change that.

Slade placed a small device on the floor near him and Nightwing. A black circle appeared below them and engulfed the two. When Slade could finally see where they were, he found himself back at his haunt. He stood up and went over to a side wall. He pressed a small button and almost immediately two robots were there. He motioned for them to get the unconscious Nightwing. They did and took him away.

Slade walked over to the monitors. Nothing had really changed since he had gone. In fact, the preprogrammed attack of his had already started. He watched the fight from his monitors. A sonic cannon shot here. Telepathic power tore apart about 20 or so robots. He saw a green gorilla was busy smashing every piece of technology he could reach. Green Star bolts flew hitting the few left.

But last, and not least was a martial artist taking out robots quicker then you could snap your fingers. He was a young man in his teens. He had jet-black hair and a black rimmed mask hid his eyes. Slade sighed. It was good to be back in the present and not in the future. It felt like making a perfect dive into a pool, refreshing. The young man on screen didn't know what he was in for as of now, but Slade would make sure that his future would be locked and sealed.

Robin delivered a final attack to a robot. He picked up the robot and yelled at it, knowing that Slade would hear it, "Get out of here before I permanently rid you from your own Haunt and into Jail, Slade!"

Slade chuckled_. 'So confident, so angered, so smart, and yet so naive. His life will soon be sold to me.' _

And he knew how to make sure of that.

-T-

**A/N:** Wow! Oh Man! I can't believe I just finished this chapter. I really did miss writing. Well, it's not a harmful addiction. Oh, and I did reference Ravager. I just got that idea from what's currently going on in the Teen Titans comics with her and her brother (Jericho's back, YES!!!). But that doesn't mean what has happened and is going on in the comics to Nightwing has happened in this story. Also, things will start to fall into place soon enough. I promise. Thinking back now, I didn't think this idea would go anywhere, but I guess peoples' minds surprise them sometimes! Please review! I'm still writing! Later!

Rena


	3. Chapter 3: Jump City

**Disclaimer:** Ha, yeah, um who told you that lie! If I owned Teen Titans, I'd be living in the Big City in a penthouse sitting in a hot tub, getting a back massage. I don't see any of that around. Do you? No, so that says it all. I don't own them.

**Author's Note:** You readers rock, you know that? Well, you do. It was a little vague at the end of the last chapter. So, just to get it so that everyone's on the same page, yes, Slade was using time travel. Oh, the complexities of time travel! While the experience would be very cool, the outcome could be horrible. Play Jaws music in the background, lol . Anyway, so now that you know that, I can safely say without giving anything away that if you don't read chapters carefully, then you'll get lost in all of this. Hope you enjoy this next chapter! May I present: Chapter Three!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Three: Jump City**

"Boo-Yah!" Cyborg hollered.

Jump City, a beautiful city on the coast line. It was a blossoming city full of hope and prosperity. It surrounded a bay making it a key new port. The Tower though, that was a sight to see. Unlike any ordinary watchtower, this tower was shaped like a "T". Also, it was a home. Titans Tower, home of the Teen Titans. A.K.A. Teenage Paradise on Pizza Night.

There were five rooms for five teenagers. One was decked out in purple, blue and black and all manner of mystic and perhaps slightly creepy things found residing inside. Another held every manor of cybornetics and sports that one could imagine. It even housed a recharging station for the computerized teen. It held a sleek blue and silver wall coloring. One room was a green mess for the local vegetarian. A bunk bed was to the side and there was a desk against the wall adjacent to it (or was it? No one could really tell because of the mess on top of it.) Another room, the local Tamaranean's room, was a girl's dream. Pink, pink and more pink. Scrapbooks, diaries, poetry, and romance novels lined the shelves. On the dresser were pictures of family and friends, including one special shot of the owner and the team leader having fun at the Pier.

Speaking of the team leader, his room was the last on the list. His wall colors changed every now and then. Sometimes it was red or a goldish-yellow or a dark blue that was almost black. Either way, it was very rare that newspaper clippings wouldn't adorn the walls. A desk was usually in the center covered with files, a laptop, evidence, and weapons. The room was also very, very close to the evidence room, which suited the leader just fine (even if his team mates wanted to somehow to convince him to move one of the rooms, as he had spent a serious amount of time in that room when any villain popped up.)

The place also contained computers with data on all the Jump City criminals (along with some radical video games that kept the male residents very occupied). In the main room was a couch that faced a mega screen that doubled as a window. Yes, it was perhaps the sweetest place in the whole city. It didn't get much better for five teenage superheroes.

"Slade's baddies are toast! Vegan pizza's on the way and I got a date with the Gamestation!" Beast Boy yelled before bounding off in the direction of the TV screen.

"Vegan? You said you ordered Pepperoni!" Cyborg countered.

Raven answered in a monotone, "And you believed him?"

Starfire laughed, "Why do we not all enjoy a trip to the walk of boards? Or perhaps enjoy a movie that we may all enjoy to celebrate?"

"Give me that controller, Cyborg!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Not on your life!"

Raven shook her head, "I'll be in my room."

She turned to go when the door opened and Robin stood in the doorway, carrying a piece of metal, "Alright, I ordered two more non-vegan pizzas, the other gamestation controller is under the couch cushion to the right, and... Starfire, how about you and Raven choose a movie?"

As usual Robin seemed to know what was going on without even being in the room for two seconds. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. Starfire smiled at him, gave him a bone-crushing hug, and then pulled Raven over to the movie collection. Raven groaned, but complied. Robin watched them head to the DVD shelf, knowing that if they could agree on a movie, then everyone would enjoy it. He smiled. With every victory, they'd come home in good spirits ready to hang out and enjoy the evening eating popcorn and candy while watching a movie.

Victory celebrations were always fun. At least they were more fun than coming home after losing, in which case Beast Boy and Raven would be at each others' throats because they'd be annoying each other. Cyborg would have an attitude and Starfire would be depressed. Robin... well, let's just say that no one would see him for a the rest of the day unless another attack on the city was sparked.

But today, luckily, victory was in order. Beast Boy and Cyborg were now enjoying a competitive game of Hoover Racing, Raven and Starfire were limiting their choices down and would be done in about ten minutes, and the pizzas would be here in about twenty. Robin sighed. Life was good. He contemplated over what he should do till the pizza arrived, he threw back and forth ideas even if he knew what he'd end up doing.

He could fix up some broken birdarangs or go to the gym and work some new martial art techniques he'd been learning. Or he could work on some acrobatics. Acrobatics. One thing about Robin was that he loved all kinds of exercise as long as it kept him moving and not sitting down or staying still and acrobatics had always been his favorite. Ever since his Dad had swung him over the large trapeze wires, Robin had loved the feeling in his hair and face as wind would whip by. It was a feeling of having no burdens, no cares, and no worries. Only peace, adrenaline and excitement in life. It was a practically a sanctuary when he was in the gym alone with the gymnastic bars.

But Robin knew that he had other things that took priority. Detective work for example, was one of them. After taking a large gulp of water, he put the glass in the sink and made his way to the hallway. He went to the evidence room and put the metal device on the table. Searching the drawers, Robin found the screw driver.

Examining the thing, Robin slowly began to disassemble it. He was curious to see whether or not this muscle system had a weakness. If it did, he'd exploit it as often as he could to just annoy Slade. After all, Slade did everything possible to annoy him. At least that's what it felt like to Robin. He knew that it wasn't just to annoy him and that Slade had reasons behind everything. Being in the man's presence, he radiated a feeling of authority and unspoken reason and control.

He silently fumed as he found part of the robotic arm sealed. It's not like he should have expected Slade to allow for a weak point anywhere in his technology. Robin threw the screw driver on the table. _'One weak point, just one weak point that wouldn't put his life at stake would be nice.' _That was another thing about Slade. Whenever he and Robin fought, Slade never intended to kill him, like the Joker refused to remove Batman's mask. Instead, Slade would just make Robin suffer and be able to heal. Robin stood up and shook his head. Just as he did, the alarm went off. _'The pizza hasn't even come yet,' _He thought. Running to the main room, Robin found everyone in there paying attention not to the TV screen, but to the ocean.

"What's...?" Robin's question didn't need to be completed. Outside a large dip in the bay was making an impressive gash in the water's surface and in it was a couple dozen Tritons waiting for a fight.

Robin didn't hesitate, "Titans, Go!"

Running down to the basement, they headed straight for the T-Sub. Robin switched on his communicator, "Aqualad! Where are you?"

For a second, nothing, then, _"Robin, I'm dealing with a threat at Atlantis!"_

"What?"

_"Triton's gotten out,"_ The Atlantean said as he dodged a clone's right hook.

"We've noticed. Okay, you deal with him there, we'll see what we can do in Jump," Robin told him. Aqualad nodded and switched off the communicator just in time to dodge oncoming Tritons. They got to the ship. Cyborg, in a rushed manner, converted it back to a sub.

"Man, Slade, now Triton, we're never gonna get a rest today, are we?" The cybornetic teen said.

"If Triton wants a fight we'll give it to him," Robin said in the utmost serious of ways.

Finally Cyborg finished with the sub and Raven lowered it into the water. The Titans jumped in and the roofs sealed over their heads. Putting on their comlink headsets, they got ready to launch. Robin grabbed the wheel.

"Alright Titans, Beast Boy, I want you to go outside when we can slow down long enough to let you out. Raven, if we knock any of them out, get them above water. Starfire, Cyborg, I want you to aim the seismic blasters at them. I'll drive. Whatever Triton's up to, we want to stop it before it gets started. Aqualad probably won't be there, so don't think this will be easy like last time," Robin ordered.

Beast Boy responded, "Well, at least Fishface and I won't be arguing."

"Aren't you and Aqualad on good terms?" Raven asked, eyebrow raised.

"No, he beat me at the latest Hoover Racing game," Beast Boy replied.

"How do you think Triton escaped?" Starfire asked, getting back to what they were about to deal with.

Cyborg responded, "Doesn't matter, all that matters is that he's out and in for a defeat by the energy power of my new upgraded seismic blasters! Right, Robin?"

Robin nodded, but said nothing. The doors to the bay opened. Perhaps the hardest thing that any of the Titans had to deal with was understanding their leader. Going into battle, he seemed calm and collected and whatever he was really thinking stayed almost always locked in his head. Mostly, he was planning battle, but a part of him was still upstairs in that evidence room locked on that stupid robotic arm. He tried to push Slade from his mind._ 'Worry about Triton, now, and Slade later,'_ he told himself.

"Okay Titans, are we ready?"

"Yeah," Raven said.

"Yup," Cyborg responded.

"Yes!" Starfire answered.

"Duh!" Beast Boy pointed out.

"Alright then, Titans, launch!" Robin yelled. The jets blasted. As they rushed towards the bay's center, Robin forced himself to think about Triton and how to defeat him. While that was his prime thought, the Boy Wonder didn't realize that his future was in a very unstable position with every second they got closer to the fight.

But someone knew that something was very wrong. The only problem was they didn't know what. And they were still slightly unconscious. Nightwing's eyes started to open. It was dark, musty, and damp. Never a good combination. Shaking himself awake, Nightwing found himself shackled to a wall. His wrists were in clasps that held tight to the wall and his ankles dangled in prison like chains. It was dark and not a speck of light was in the room. Automatically, Nightwing knew that he wasn't home and he wasn't just having a bad dream like he had hoped.

His eyes shifted from wall to wall trying to make out anything he could, but it was impossible. He sighed, but found himself cough after inhaling the musty air. Just then, a door opened and Nightwing flinched at the light. A figure stood in the doorway.

"You're awake, I see," Slade walked forward and in front of Nightwing.

"So you're not blind then?" Nightwing threw back. He was tired and drowsy and he knew it was evident in his voice.

Slade chuckled and walked to the side, "Wondering where you are?"

"Can't be any place good," Nightwing told him. He might have been tired, but he fought to keep up with Slade's mind game.

"Quite the contrary," Slade said walking to the center of the room, "It's a very good place to be or perhaps I should say..."

Nightwing listened as Slade paused, his glare daring Slade to stop talking, "Time."

Slade's words oozed together into a smooth flowing revelation.

"Time?" Nightwing's eyes widened, "We're in Jump and I'm, no... when I was a teenager?"

Nightwing saw the glint in Slade's eye that always let him know that Slade was smiling. And while he hated it, it seemed to confer that what he said was true. The drowsiness left him.

"You always were bright," Slade said, "You seem shocked. It's not like I didn't leave clues... Or would."

"Your future self was making those phone calls because he knew that you'd be there to..." Nightwing trailed off.

Slade shook his head and walked away, then stopped, "You can't figure that out?"

Nightwing took a stab at it, "To bring me back here?"

Slade came up to Nightwing till they were eye to eye, "Exactly."

Slade went to the opposite wall and almost automatically, monitors lit up the room. Nightwing flinched at the blank blue screens.

"What's the point of that?" Nightwing shot.

The screens shot up images. Nightwing felt his gut drop out for a second as past memories came back. On screen, he saw his younger self but not in the colorful colors he had worn when he was Robin. Instead he was wearing an orange and black suit. Nightwing fought back the memories that he had not thought of in a long time.

"If you want me to your apprentice, I don't see how bringing me back in time helps," Nightwing responded.

Slade sighed, "You're smarter than this."

"If you really wanted to try again when I'm older why not just try it in the present, not now?" Nightwing attempted to negotiate.

"That isn't the point, Robin," Slade said.

Nightwing dropped his head. He knew that Slade didn't have to answer any of these questions. Nightwing was chained to a wall and was a prisoner. As captive, he wasn't entitled to get any answers. But he had to try.

"Then what is?"

"You go to see movies, right Robin?" Slade asked.

Nightwing was about to tell Slade to stop calling him Robin, but decided against it, "Yeah, but what does that..."

Slade cut him off, "Before they ever show a movie in theaters, they put trailers out, right? A glance into what Hollywood will give it's audience in the future?"

Nightwing took the metaphor and placed it into reality, "You're not going to try to make me your apprentice..." Slade turned to look at Nightwing as he finished, "You're going to attempt to break Robin and get him to become your apprentice and... I'm here so you can see whether or not he'll stay as your apprentice. I'm the preview of the future."

Slade walked back up to Nightwing, "Precisely."

"Why?"

"Why what?'

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

Slade sighed, "Because you aren't a danger to my plans."

"How do you know that? Who says that I won't be able to break out of here?" Nightwing questioned.

"While that would be a shame if you were to do so, you still wouldn't be a threat. Do you remember any of the Titans telling you about seeing 'Nightwing' in their present when you were a teenager? Do you remember seeing yourself as a teenager?" Slade questioned back.

Cold reality slipped in the back door as Nightwing saw what Slade was getting at, "If you see any of them, you're ruining your own future yourself. And I'm sure that you want to get home to see that nothing has changed and that Kori is home and safe and sound, don't you?"

Nightwing looked at Slade with utter loathing.

"Time's an interesting thing, even if this fails, I'll still have to send those thugs to that warehouse in the future to keep things from changing my past as well," Slade said slowly.

"How did you manage time travel?" Nightwing asked.

"Warp."

"He gave you his technology?"

"I have uncountable resources, Robin," Slade said calmly, "Many villains are willing to lend a hand if persuaded or bribed properly."

"So he gave you time travel technology and information on how to find me," Nightwing concluded.

Slade smiled beneath his mask. While Nightwing's present wasn't quite to his liking, what he saw in Nightwing was. The boy that he had fought countless times would grow up to be a man of intellect. And judging by his reputation, Robin had also trained himself to be as dangerous and almost as intimidating as the Dark Knight himself.

"You're younger self will be joining us soon."

"Neither of us will listen to you."

"We'll see about that. There are many things both of you hold near and dear," Slade told him, "And I have many ways of persuading people to do what they are told to do."

Slade smiled. Nightwing's look of loathing was just too good not enjoy. Slade walked up to him. Nightwing put his head down and looked at his feet, refusing to look at the mercenary.

"I told you that I have many resources, Robin, however," Slade grabbed Nightwing by the jaw and forced him to look him in the eye, "I have yet to attain my most valuable resource. But I will."

Nightwing wrenched his face out of Slade's grasp. Slade smiled and then went to the door. As he opened it, four robots came into the room. Slade left and Nightwing groaned. Slade, even in the future, the man was always a threat. He seemed to always be one step ahead of everybody. It was a constant advantage that Slade had in the never-ending battles.

But then again...Nightwing thought for a moment, then smiled. Perhaps he had an advantage as well.

-T-

**A/N:** So there's that chapter. I leave you all on such cliffhangers, I know. If it makes you feel any better, my friends finally pestered me into reading some of Dickens (they thought that because I like reading depressing stories with characters that have faults that I'd like it). And they were right, I love the stories, just not how each chapter ends: with a cliffhanger. So annoying. Either way, that's irrelevant. How did you like the chapter? I hope that I got the Titans right. I have been nervous about writing for them since I haven't written for any of them except for Starfire and Robin mainly. Please review! I'll try to update soon. Later!

Rena


	4. Chapter 4: Bay Battle

**Disclaimer:** Ha ha ha! I wish! Owning Teen Titans would be so cool. But alas, I don't.

**Author's Note:** Well, another chapter here. This chapter is very fast paced and you have to pay attention to understand what exactly is going on. On a side note, I know that this is so late in terms of the holidays, but I finally decided to post a new story called "A Child's Christmas Present" involving a certain curly haired kid named Joey Wilson. Hope you check it out. But back to this story, this chapter does have a huge fight scene, something I haven't done in a while. Without further delay, I present: Chapter Four: Bay Battle!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere? **

**Chapter Four: Bay Battle**

On the beach, the waves hit the sand with raw and angry power. Lifeguards hurried to get people off the beach. Parents were packing up their picnics and picking their children up in haste. The parking lots were without crowd control. The gash in the water was livid, animated, alive. It seemed to dip inward like a whirlpool, but it was so perfect to the point that it seemed as though one could rip its half pipe up like it was still. The sky was darkening with clouds and rain coming in. In the middle of the gash were a bunch of green figures carrying something Poseidon would.

The bay's waters violently moved out of the way of the T-Sub. It was traveling a good 50 mph, making the waters above even give way to waves. Each Titan was ready to go when needed. Each clutched the sub and stared onward ready for a fight. Robin sat in the middle looking ready and determined. He looked at the radar and looked at the wave patterns. They weren't getting into that gash by opening the door.

"Titans, surface!" He yelled into the speaker.

Each brought their ends up. The sub began to rise and the depth level decreased.

"Beast Boy, be ready to be released, Raven, you too!" Robin ordered.

Both nodded, unbuckled, and got ready to be ejected into the air. Ten feet, five, four, three, two, one. The sub launched itself into the air. Beast Boy turned into a sword fish and landed in the water. Raven soared into the air and began scooping up Tritons that were above the surface. The Sub went through the roof and into the middle of the gash. Once they were back in the water, the three remaining Titans steadied the craft at the center.

"Cyborg, Starfire, ready your blasters!" Robin yelled, "I'll take over driving from here."

Tritons appeared in less than seconds, each smiling and laughed insanely. Robin saw Beast Boy swim in and catch one from behind. Starfire and Cyborg took advantage of the others that were caught off guard. As Robin watched, he looked around. The gash was steady, very steady, but the current was strong. Looking closely, he noticed Tritons were each swimming in unison in short circles around the sides. 'So that's what he's doing,' Robin thought to himself. But just as he realized that, something landed on top of the ship. Triton smiled outside of the craft as more and more piled on.

"Cyborg, Starfire, keep shooting at them, but we're going to take a spin. Beast Boy, go up to Raven, tell her to start netting the sides of the whirlpool!" No sooner had the Boy Wonder said it that he took off. His goal was to shake them loose. But to do it was one roller coaster ride neither Starfire or Cyborg would forget. Beast Boy swam up to the top of the water. Jumping out and turning into a hawk, he flew up to Raven. When she saw him she created a small landing space.

"Robin says to start scooping out the sides!" he yelled.

"Scoop them?" Raven screamed back to be heard over the roaring waves.

"Like a strainer!" he yelled back.

"Got it!" she replied, "Tell Robin, it's getting chopping up here, too!"

"Will do!"

Raven let Beast Boy drop back into the water and began to do what she was told to do. The T-Sub finally halted to the side. Cyborg was feeling sick and Starfire was trying to float for a second of her spinning vision. Robin, however, was fine.

"Dude, let us know next time you decide to take us on a ride that will make us sick in under three seconds!" Cyborg yelled as he held his stomach. It was ironic because he was normally the one to give them a ride that made them question if the laws of physics really existed.

Robin rolled his eyes and in the process spotted something. A wire. Looking at it closely, he saw that it ran out to open water, where Triton's cave was. It wasn't just a wire, it was an explosive wire._ 'He didn't get out, someone let him out!' _Robin thought bitterly. He was about to investigate when Cyborg let loose on some oncoming Tritons. Making a mental note to come back to it later, Robin drove the sub back into battle. They'd have to dive back into the center to get into the fight again. They sped up and attempted to ram their way in again.

Above the water, Raven strained catching the Tritons if she was lucky, but she didn't realize that one had surfaced behind her. Taking aim, the clone fired. It hit Raven in the back and she screamed. She was out cold and was heading straight for the water. Just at that moment, the sub surfaced above the water.

The Titans watched for less then a millisecond before Robin gave the order, "Starfire, catch her!"

Starfire ejected herself and flew up. The sub sealed up again and hit the water. Starfire caught Raven moments before she hit the water. Lifting her up and checking Raven's pulse, Starfire brought her communicator out again.

"Robin, Raven is out of it!"

Robin gripped the wheel tight. They were in trouble, they had to regroup! "Titans, regroup fifty feet from the Tower, above water!"

Beast Boy and Starfire nodded and headed over. As Robin drove out of the fight, Cyborg kept the clones from following. As they reached their meeting point, the Sub opened up it's hatches. Starfire landed and put Raven in her seat. Beast Boy crawled up and kneeled on the side.

"This isn't working," he said, out of breath.

"Is Raven going to be okay?" Starfire asked.

"She will be," Cyborg said, scooping up some water from the side. He slowly poured it over the telepath's face. Her eyes twitched and then opened. She groaned, but sat up.

"I got hit in the back. "She said calmly. "I'm fine, though."

Robin stood up and looked out at the waters. It was getting worse. The gash was getting closer to shore and once it got to the beaches, Triton would start to invade. This wasn't good. Robin looked at the controls and then an idea hit him.

"Cyborg, how fast can the T-Sub do 360's?" He asked.

"I'd guess around eighty or seventy miles per hour. Why?" He responded.

Robin stared out at the ocean. Starfire watched him with hesitation. Beast Boy raised a brow in an attempt to get an answer. Cyborg and Raven looked at each other with trepidation at what Robin might have been thinking. The clouds finally brought the rain in and the drizzle started. Robin stared out evaluating the chances.

_'Triton can't stay out of the water for more than an hour without water, but with his clones, they'll easily get their water supply. If we were to try this, we might not even get all of the clones. Who even knows if the Sub can withstand that pressure? We could end up breaking off the sides. What if a Titan got slammed in by that speed and force? Then again, if Raven had to, she could switch to pulling the sub out of the water...'_ Robin looked back at the others in the corners of his eye. Cyborg was keeping an impatient Beast Boy from playing around slightly with the T-Sub's controls while Starfire was trying to help Raven recover.

For a teenager, Robin was incredibly smart. He had always been a fast learner and when he had moved in with Batman, he could only go out on patrol if he had A's in all of his classes, including the extra ones that Alfred taught him. As he watched the watery gash become bigger and bigger, his masked eyes drifted towards the shores. The rain intensified. The drops could clearly be seen on the bay's surface. Robin felt someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"Robin?" Starfire asked.

He looked back at each of the Titans and they looked back. Robin could retain emotion from the rest of the Titans as though it was a talent. The Titans didn't know what he was thinking, but they trusted him, not just because he was their leader, but also their friend. They could do this. He knew they could.

Robin smiled, "Okay Titans, everyone in, we're going for a ride."

"Man, please don't let it be another roller coaster," Cyborg complained.

"Not exactly."

The Sub started up again. Robin rammed the Sub into the center as before and centered the ship that it was in plain view of every Triton. Each were smiling, too confident for their own good.

"Raven, can you keep everyone relaxed? Cyborg, Starfire, you're back on the blasters. Beast Boy, I want you to tilt your controls to the left, I'll tilt mine to the right. Titans, Go!" They had no more time to prepare.

Raven concentrated hard. Cyborg and Starfire turned on the blasters. The sub turned in multiple 360's, moving every which way. The Tritons were dropping like flies and if they could have taken a moment, they would have seen the whirlpool was slowing down because of the counteracting current they were causing. Beast Boy and Robin kept steady hold of the controls. Their speed was increasing rapidly, getting dangerously close to a speed that would spell disaster.

By now, the beaches were empty and the city was full of onlookers. But deep inside the Haunt, four robots guarded Nightwing closely. Nightwing watched them walk in their patterns from side to side and not turn their gaze away for a second. He had no doubt that Slade was watching, but he was probably overseeing something to get his younger self in the Haunt as well. This had to seem as though it was nothing.

Nightwing pulled himself up slightly, causing the robots to turn and direct their immediate attention towards him. He twisted his wrists and stretched his fingers as far back as he could and then relaxed. The robots put themselves back at ease and began to pace back and forth again. Nightwing continued to look uncomfortable and sore. But at his wrist, he felt his Gauntlets begin to heat up. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Fifteen minutes and nothing happened. Twenty three and thirty nine seconds, Nightwing stole a glace and saw the clasps holding his wrists. Very subtlety he saw the iron was hot and sticky.

He breathed out and in. Then he yanked his arms forward, breaking his arms away from the wall. His feet were still chained to the wall, but he still had momentum and used it. As he landed, he yanked his ankles away from the wall. The clasps broke easily as he rolled into a somersault. The guards were quick and after him within a millisecond. With a freeze disk, he got rid of two of them. _'Two for me.' _The two others ran right into the fight. An electric disk took care of one of them and a swift kick to the head of the other left Nightwing's guards unable to do anything about him. _'Two for Kori.'_

A nice thing about the new uniform was its upgrades._ 'I've got tricks too, Slade,' _He thought smugly. The alarm rang. _'Figures.' _Nightwing threw a small bomb up to the ceiling and it made a hole in the roof. Nightwing grappled up and landed smoothly on top in a crouch. Slade's robots reached the roof and chased their target. Nightwing ran across the buildings, finally coming to halt. He threw smoke bombs into the middle. At the sides he left small fire bombs. As he jumped off the side they went off making the robots go haywire with confusion as they were prone to sensing heat to figure out where their opponents were.

He hid in the apartment building. His eyes darted for the kitchen. He went to the fridge and opened it up. He pretended to search the fridge as he waited for the robots to disperse. The stupid things would never learn, would they? Nightwing finally left the building and began to head down the alley towards downtown Jump City. All the while, he contemplated his predicament. He couldn't show himself to anyone. He couldn't warn anyone. And he certainly was going to be stuck here for a while. To make matters worse, his credit card wouldn't be activated till he was twenty-one which seemed like light years away.

Nightwing rested against the wall, silently kicking himself for getting into this mess. He kept thinking about the outcomes that could happen if he screwed up. He and Bruce would never make up. He and Kori may never get married. He may never become Nightwing. He may never..._ 'Enough with this,' _he thought,_ 'I might be in the past, but that doesn't mean I don't have the skills that I've gained in the future.' _With that he marched off and continued his way to the center of Jump.

But in the slums that he had left, Slade was calm. As he had said before, he knew that Nightwing wouldn't be a problem. All that meant was that he had two targets... Again. And while that was sorely annoying to have to chase down one of them again, he didn't mind. He loved the thrill of the chase. It was like hunting in Africa. He had lost Nightwing, but he had a feeling that Nightwing's trail would be easy to pick up. And besides, he didn't need Nightwing right then. He was after all, 'The Preview' and still was in the pre-production area.

The Titans, though, left the easiest trail in the world. Honestly, a giant T-Shaped tower is the best trail there ever was. His robots were holding up against the current in the bay and as Slade studied the projected images, he realized that there might be more than one way to sink the sub and get the precious cargo inside. He got up and headed out the door toward the car.

The waters were slowing. The Tritons were practically gone and had retreated. The water gash was dissipating to nothing. Now the only problem was slowing down from the Sub, not something Robin given much thought to. He had assumed that they would just turn the opposite way, but it didn't seem like that was going to work. He had forgotten to take into account that Beast Boy's speed couldn't reach Robin's and they had to slow down at the same time and with the same pace. There was only one thing that they could really do and it wasn't something Robin wanted to do. If they could avoid it, he would.

"Cyborg, would we be in trouble if we used the emergency breaks?" Robin asked.

"Duh!" Cyborg hollered, "Wait, Robin, dude, please don't do what you're about to do."

"Only if we have to."

And it looked like they would. Robin looked at the controls. He pushed the ascend button. The sub slowly began to rise up, still spinning despite the sudden upward force. Robin ground his teeth.

"Titans, separate, break, and eject!" He yelled.

The others looked at him in horror, but nodded. Slowly the five parts of the sub dispersed upward, and began to spin out of control towards opposite directions. Raven couldn't pay attention to soothing everyone's nerves anymore. So automatically everyone was on their own. Robin tried to focus on his controls. He saw himself coming towards a reef. Before he could react, he hit it and the gash in the inflator began to slow down in his ascent.

Looking around, Robin decided to ignore his own advice and hit the gas. His rise was fast and just before he broke the surface he realize his mistake and stepped on the breaks. Too late. He jolted forward and before he knew what happened, he water slammed his face and shoulder. He caught one glimpse of the craft that was slowing on the water's surface and realized he must have hit the eject button. Then it was a blur. He felt himself hit the water and bounce up again and again and again. It was like he was a skipping stone across the water.

It hurt and it didn't get much better. He didn't stop skipping and fall into the water until he was stopped by the shore line. Robin felt himself being flung up one more time and then his back hit something hard, rough, and prickly-sharp. He fell onto his side. Robin thought he heard something, but couldn't tell over the sound of the waves. The rain pummeled on his face as if trying to slap him to keep him awake. Robin was barely conscious, but his thoughts fought to keep himself thinking straight. _'Did they... Where am... What did I... Titans... make... it...? hurts..' _Robin lost consciousness as the pain finally took over.

The waves lapped each other. Robin lay there for a minute with nothing to bother his still form except the rain. Then the sand crumpled as someone's feet came into the midst. They came up over to Robin, who was lying in the wet sand in front of a fallen tree trunk. Shoving Robin with his foot, Slade smiled. The boy was out of it and he hadn't even needed to destroy the rest of the sub. Now the other Titans wouldn't even be alerted to their nemesis being involved with their leader's disappearance. Slade motioned for two of his robots to come over and pick Robin up.

As he had thought, it had been simple.

-T-

**A/N:** Now that I've answered every question that I made you ask in the last chapter, I've probably just created new ones with this chapter. It's the cruel thing about reading a story in my opinion. Just when your questions get answered, new questions are created. I know that most of this chapter was a fight/battle. The next chapter isn't nearly as fast paced as this one and I hope it won't create nearly as many questions as this one did. And the thing with Nightwing's Gauntlets, I made that up, but I'm sure that it would be a handy thing to have. Well, how was the chapter? Please Review! Again, I hope you enjoyed it! Later!

Rena


	5. Chapter 5: Getting Bearings

**Disclaimer:** Yeah right, like I own them! Ha! Of course I don't own them. Why would you ever think that I would?

**Author's Note:** Okay, I know that so far I've updated at least once a week, but I did tell you that on occasion it would possibly be two weeks till an update. Well, this has been one of those occasions. I'm really sorry about that. I've been really, really busy and have been having a hard time lately. My dog was put down half way through writing this and so I'm kind of depressed. But I want to say thank you to all of those who have reviewed! You guys are so nice and your reviews always put a smile on my face. Anyway, this chapter is a bit slower than the last one (which was at like what? The speed of light?! Now we're down to the speed of sound, I promise lol) and I think it gets everyone on the same page. So I hope you enjoy it! May I present: "Chapter Five: Getting Bearings"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Five: Getting Bearings**

Nightwing finally reached the center of town. He crouched low on a rooftop. It was raining, but lightly as if the weather was just starting to clear up. He looked out to the bay and saw the Tower sitting in the calm water. As the protegee watched people walking down the sidewalks he thought over his current situation. He was being searched for. He was in his past. And he couldn't get help from anyone without messing up the future. And he was getting _awfully_ wet.

Nightwing glanced down the street where at a clothing store. Slipping down the street quietly, he grappled down to the back entrance. There was a teenager girl carrying packages into the store. She went inside for about a minute, leaving the delivery truck's back door open. Nightwing waited for four minutes. She didn't come back out. Pulling out two hundreds, Nightwing went over and quickly scanned through the clothes. He grabbed a pair of jeans, sunglasses, a backpack, a black t-shirt, a pair of shoes and socks, and a black, leather jacket. He left the two hundred dollar bills on top of a box with a pair of glasses holding it down, before running off to find a place to change.

He got up to the top of an apartment complex, where he opened the roof entrance and quickly changed inside. When he was done, he left the complex via the regular entrance downstairs. His Nightwing uniform was stored safely in the backpack and he appeared no different than any other civilian...except that he was incredibly good looking and it was obvious that he worked out. Who needs supermodels or actors with their fake faces anyway? Where his mask once was, was now the black shades.

He looked around and quickly pondered over what to do next. _'Live on my own for a bit and do research on how to get back home?'_ While that seemed like a pretty good option, Richard doubted that it would be the best. Slade said that Richard's younger self would be in the Haunt soon which was never a good thing. Richard wanted more than anything to be able to go back to the Haunt and finish what Slade had started before it got out of hand. But doing so was too risky.

There had to be something that he could do, though. As Dick walked down the street he contemplated his next move. He missed Kori and was sure that she must be worried sick over him (assuming that he was going to be gone for the exact amount of time that he had been gone), but at the same time he worried that he might not have her to go back to. Finally, he decided that his best bet would be to wait and see what happens. He'd follow the media and see as to whether or not things would get better. If not... Well, he'd figure that out if the time came. And by all means he hoped that it wouldn't.

With this decided, Richard began walking towards the center of town to try to find a hotel. The streets were damp and wet and made his pant legs muddy. The city air was seemingly fresh. That's what rain does when it hits a city. There's always a smog in the air because of all the hustle and bustle. But the rain tends to force all of the dirt out of the air and onto the ground. The only place in Jump where it didn't do that was on the beaches and the piers, for they were already fresh and didn't need the rain for a clean-up job. It was just sandy, and sand was exactly what Cyborg spit out of his mouth as he came to.

"Aw, gross," he muttered as he got up. He was in his Sub-pod, but upside down with the roof gone.

For him, the ride had been nicer than expected. He had just ended up with a bit of extra turbulence, which had caused him to hit the roof latch with his head. With a yell, he forced the sub-pod above him and to the side after checking that it would land on no one. As he got up he shook his head to get rid of the remaining sand. He assessed his surroundings. He was to the right of the tower and at first couldn't see any sign of the others. Then a green beam of light rose up from the ground farther down the beach. Cyborg ran over quickly.

"Star! Star!" He yelled as he reached the site of Starfire's craft. She must have had a nicer ride as her sub-pod was lying almost entirely upside down as well, but she could still see out of part of the roof and the craft was perfectly intact. Well, it had been until she had forced the side to be blown apart so that she could get out.

"Aw, man, you realize that I'm going to have to rebuild that, right?" Cyborg said, his worry for his teammates shifting towards his precious T-Sub.

"I am sorry, friend Cyborg, but I had no other means to get out," she responded, as she dusted herself off.

While Cyborg looked over the damage, Starfire flew up and scanned the horizon for the other three Titans. Finally, she spotted under a pier some beams that looked like a cannon ball had been shot at them. Flying over, she found Beast Boy coming around as well. The Sub-Pod was stuck between three rocks.

"Friend, might I assist you?" she asked as she landed.

"Yes, please! And hurry, I'm gonna puke!" Beast Boy wailed.

With that in mind, she quickly dislodged the ship and opened the latch, allowing Beast Boy to get out and run over and satisfy his stomach's need to get rid of it's contents. Cyborg came over within a minute after Beast Boy came back to where Star was.

"Anyone seen Robin or Raven?"

At that moment, a swirling black aura of black energy appeared and Raven stepped out.

"I'm fine," she replied, "I landed in the ocean and my pod stayed intact."

"Alright," Beast Boy said, "That just leaves Robin."

"By the pattern of how our subs dispersed, I'd guess that he landed out to the left of the Tower, over by the woods or near the campgrounds," Raven pointed out.

Starfire looked and then grabbed her communicator, "Robin? Hello? Are you awake? Are you okay?"

Nothing. Just static.

"He's probably fine," Beast Boy said, "It's Robin – he might even be back at the Tower. He could have landed there, too."

"That's a very slim chance," Raven said quietly, "I didn't see any signs of him."

"Look, let's go back to the Tower and bring the Sub-Pods back, none of us really had a fun ride and I need to make repairs to the Pods, especially yours Star," Cyborg announced.

"I again apologize, Cyborg," Starfire answered back meekly.

"It's not much of a problem. I just need to go to the store and get some replacement parts," he answered, "Raven, can you levitate the pods back to the Tower?"

"Yes, I already have mine in the garage."

"Alright, Starfire, you keep trying to reach Robin, and Beast Boy, you're coming with me to get those parts," Cyborg explained.

"Alright" the changeling replied.

"And before we leave, I'll go and do a full check on what the sensor's say about where Robin's Sub-Pod should be," Cyborg said reassuringly.

"But what if there's a problem with the sub? What if something terrible has happened?" Starfire asked.

"I don't think anything's happened. My sensors here say that it should be resting exactly at sea level with the roof open, so it's not like he's drowning or the sub is sinking."

"I suppose, but... I wish we could just continue searching now," Starfire said slowly.

"Look, Star, you can keep searching for Robin outside if you like," Raven said, "Cyborg will call you once we have the information on the sub-pod."

The team all nodded in agreement and then split. Starfire looked at the communicator and sighed. The tracing signal was still on. They could find him even if he wasn't in the sub. But Starfire still didn't like it. The last time Robin didn't answer his communicator, it was because he literally couldn't. But at length, Starfire knew that never asking or trying would get them nowhere. She flew up and began to search slowly around the edges of the beach. All the while, her gut kept feeling like it was falling out with worry for her best friend.

Starfire breathed in and repeatedly thought while trying to calm herself,_ 'He will be okay. He will be okay. Robin_ will _be okay.'_

Starfire tried again on the communicator, "Robin? Robin? Please? Are you able to answer? Robin...?"

_"Robin? Is there a problem with your Sub-Pod? Robin? Rob---,"_ The line was disconnected.

Slade shook his head at the annoying object, then turned over to the car where Robin was being carried into. He held a hand out and the Sladebots stopped their actions. Slade walked over and pulled the cape away from Robin's back. There were tears in the fabric and Slade could just barely see the red blood from the red tunic. Slade walked over to the car and took out a white case. Inside, he took out a wet disinfectant cloth and put it on the seat. He then allowed for the robots to continue what they were doing.

Once Robin was inside, they shut the door and drove off. Slade decided to take a different route than the car, though. A quicker one at that too: a speed boat in the city's water system. As the robots started up the car, Slade disappeared into the woods.

The car ride was bumpy at first, but once the road became hard gravel it was smoother. It was at this point that Robin's eyes barely flickered open. He groaned. His vision was blurry and hazy. His back was wet and cold. Worse yet was a bitter sting in his back that refused to leave. He glanced around at the surroundings and noticed the boxy interior he was in and how roomy it was.

_'Why on earth am I in the backseat of a Hummer?'_

It was the first thought that came to mind. He looked over at the driver, but the sun prevented him from seeing anything clearly. Plus, it made him feel sick. He managed to look out the window by his feet and as they turned the corner saw buildings coming into view. Also, to the left was the Tower. Then the buildings engulfed the Black Hummer. With the moving colors, it was too much for the boy wonder's eyes. As he shut them, he passed out again with a groan.

One of the robots glanced back at their unconscious captive, then turned back to the front. The Hummer drove down the streets getting closer and closer to the Haunt, the driver unnoticed due to specialized camouflage in the windows. Amongst the other vehicles, the Hummer soon got lost in the crowded city, despite its size.

The sun began to dip down beneath the sky and caused shadows to darken up even the most innocent of places. Raven walked up the steps tired and frustrated. She had a theory that it was because Beast Boy had been the one to call her into the main room while she was meditating that she wasn't in the best mood, but then again it could have just been because she was tired and hungry. The halls were darker now, but then Raven didn't mind. She was used to it. When she got to the main room, Cyborg and Beast Boy were already there. As she walked in, Starfire flew past her frantically.

"Friends, is there any news on Robin's whereabouts?" She asked, "His signal turned off as I was searching."

Cyborg shook his head. Though he seriously doubted it he added, "The battery might be dead Star."

"Is there a reason why that ground is the ground of the camps rather than a beach?" she asked Cyborg.

"There's dangerous reefs on that side of the bay. No one's supposed to swim there anymore because there were so many injuries on account of the coral," he responded.

"Man, I told you that we all should have started searching for him before we worried about your stupid Sub!" Beast Boy yelled.

"Hey, since when are you genius of the team? First off, the T-Sub is not stupid! Second of all, you didn't ever say that!" Cyborg retorted.

"But I'm saying it now!"

"Well, you should of said it before!"

Starfire interrupted, "Cyborg, Beast Boy, I don't believe that this is helping in any--- "

"Silence!" Raven screamed, scaring every one of the Titans up the wall, "Cyborg, you know the general location of where Robin's pod is supposed to be, right?"

"Yeah," Cyborg half whimpered, as Raven was still downright furious.

"Then give Beast Boy the coordinates so he can find it," Raven said, more calmly.

"Uh, Raven, I..." Raven glared at the changeling, "Never mind."

He was going to say that he was never the best with coordinates, but telling that to Raven would just make her temper burst, which is something that none of the Titans wanted. And while none of them liked it, Raven knew that it helped to keep control of a crazy situation if needed. She was the most conscious of it, too. They knew that if she was in her room it was probably to calm herself. How hard she tried, only she knew. She always succeeded in being the one holding the reigns of her emotions. On this occasion, she used that to her advantage.

"Cyborg, fix up the T-Sub just in case it's needed. Starfire, why don't you come with me and meditate?" Raven questioned.

"Um, should I not help Beast Boy with the..."

"No, you're too much of a nervous wreck to help," Raven stated bluntly.

Grabbing Starfire's arm, Raven lead her down the halls. The alien was silent and didn't attempt to free herself. She knew she was, as Raven put it, 'A nervous wreck'. Even though it wasn't that she was nervous, just worried. While she would never say it to Raven because Raven considered it practically a curse, she sometimes wished that she could control herself better as Raven did. Of course, not to the extreme extent, but during some instances it would be helpful. When they got to Raven's room, Raven shut the door and lit some candles. Levitating above the floor, she motioned for Starfire to do the same.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath Metrion Zinthos," Raven whispered and repeated.

Starfire soon did the same and began to chant with her friend as they had done before. The room was undisturbed and the scents of lavender and vanilla filled the room. While Starfire was quelling her distress, Raven attempted to quell her emotions and worried thoughts. It was something that she had done time and time again, but for some reason she had a headache barely worth mentioning just refused to go away. However, Raven's headache was nothing compared to the throbbing one that Robin had.

As his eyes flickered open again, he saw a ceiling and noticed that there was a dim light on his left side. For a second, he attempted to push himself up into a sitting position, but the boy wonder shut his eyes tight instantly and stopped. His back was so sore it hurt to move. _'What hit me?'_ Robin thought. Shifting his view to the sides, he noticed he was in a bed in some sort of medical room. It wasn't the hospital and it sure wasn't the Titans' hospital wing. But there was no doubt it was a medical room.

While half of Robin was silently questioning where he was, the other half was grateful for the comfortable surroundings because he could barely move because of the pain in his head and back. It took a moment, but the pieces of memory in his mind came together. He had somehow, accidentally been ejected from the sub-pod near the campgrounds and had then been again, somehow, knocked out. Someone must have found him and that would explain the Hummer. Lastly, he was now in some room where someone was taking care of him... probably taking care of him.

Robin allowed himself to sink into the pillows. They were soft and welcoming to him. While his more logical side said that it really could be anyone, good or bad, that could have found him, overall, he just wanted to go back to sleep and get away from the throbbing headache he had._ 'Besides, how likely is it that there's a villain camping in a public camping ground?'_ He reasoned. Then he heard a door open. Sliding his head over, Robin allowed for an eye to peek open. But as his rescuer came closer, Robin's masked eyes widened into those that one would see in a horror film.

"It's nice to see you awake Robin," Slade said calmly.

Robin shook his head slowly in disbelief of his rotten luck, "Not you."

Under the grated mask, Slade smiled at the teen wonder, knowing that the boy was completely at his mercy.

-T-

**A/N:** Well, there it is. I hope you liked it. Please review! I'm going to try to get another chapter out faster this time just because this one was later then normal. If it makes sense, I don't know if I'll be able to write it that quickly or not. But I'll try. Because you guys deserve it. So the next chapter hopefully will be up soon. Later!

Rena


	6. Chapter 6: Headaches

**Disclaimer:** Well, here we are again, and again I must tell you that I don't own Teen Titans. Really, don't you get it by now that I don't own them?!

**Author's Note:** Wow, this chapter was done in like three days! That's almost a record for me. Thanks for the reviews by the way. I love hearing from you readers. Anyway, I do have a slight treat for any of you liked reading my first multi-chapter story: "What?". Slade's POV! Yes, I said it. Come on, do you honestly expect me to ignore my favorite villain's side of things? I just enjoy him too much to not write anything for him. It's at the beginning and basically supposed to be an entry in a log or journal or something. Probably a log, so yeah. I'm holding you up from reading the actual chapter. May I present: "Chapter Six: Headaches"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere? **

**Chapter Six: Headaches **

_Perhaps it is simple nature, and perhaps it is not. Time, that is. When I originally contacted Warp, I knew the risks involved and that to keep the Time Stream intact I'd have to be willing to accept what came out in the end of the battle. Even without the element of Time Travel, one would have to, anyway._

_People always question why I look for an apprentice. More so, they ask why I want Robin to be my apprentice. There are many answers, as there should be. If one only has one reason for a choice, it's never a wise choice. Robin, the Boy Wonder, he's well named. Most would think of him as weak, that the other Titans would no doubt over power him. They haven't seen him fight them, not like I have, anyway._

_Robin's nature is so much like my own. It's something that everyone notices. He's also young. As teenagers grow up, they begin to try to find a solid basis for their own beliefs. If they can't, they change them. Which is why I didn't go into the future. It would be a waste of time to go into the future and try to re-arrange how a full grown man thinks. Teenagers are an easy target in that regard. People say that Robin's mind is already made up. People don't realize how vulnerable he really can be, you just have to say the right things to get under his skin. Something I am able to do quite easily since I know what gets under my own._

_While Robin is here in the Haunt, Nightwing isn't. I meant what I said when I don't really care. If something causes Robin to become loyal, it will be easy to tell where he is. It was interesting though, to see Robin fully grown. Warp said that he was formidable, but I was, well, actually impressed. He had grown to become a skilled, even slightly scary opponent to his enemies. The mark the Bat left on his life was evident too. He was different, but at the same time, they used the same elements. Blending in amongst the shadows, the same sort of practical approach, appearing when least expected... All of which are admirable and respectable, but irritating as he was not on the preferred side._

_It's a good thing that time can still be written. If I can fuel him, Robin's potential as my apprentice would be exponential. The child doesn't see that. To him, everything is supposed to be black and white when often, life is gray. It must scare him because he's beginning to notice it._

_I didn't intend to lose Robin as an apprentice. He's innocent, yet dangerous. He's impatient, yet within him is potential waiting to be unlocked. And this time, I intend to unlock it._

_-Slade_

-T-

Robin slowly shook his head. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Yet, it was. Slade loomed over the dumbfounded teen with superiority. Robin clenched his teeth and found that his grip on the sheets was so tight that his knuckles were white. Slade was always around, always a threat when you least expected it; like a tiger hiding in the grass waiting to go in for the kill. Now the prey was stuck and trapped and the predator was ready and on the move.

"Yes, me," Slade said.

"How, what...?" Robin was lost for words.

"Are you really that surprised, Robin? Hasn't splitting up from your team always proved a hazard? And I'm sure your brilliant young mind can put the pieces together now, can't you?" Slade was treating Robin like a child, something that Robin detested.

So he had been young when he had arrived on the vigilante scene. So what? He was a teenager now, one with much more experience than others teens and wanted to be treated like one, not like a child that couldn't tie their own shoes. Robin forced himself to focus. As much as he hated listening to Slade, he knew that the only way that he would get any information was if he took a stab at it. Robin tried to take everything that happened earlier and slowly, he pulled out the hints.

"You, you let Triton and his clones out... Those explosive cords in the water, they were yours. It was a set up. You wanted to get me away from the Titans when we split up after stopping Triton," Robin answered.

Slade chuckled in a way that made Robin's stomach flip. "Not quite, but close. I knew that you and your team would be able to defeat Triton. His only strength is in numbers and in his knowledge of the ocean. I had planned to attack the Sub once all of you were weakened. But you made it easier for me by deciding to split up."

Robin's eyes widened and he looked at the sheets in front of him, "So now... The Titans don't know..."

"That I'm even involved with your disappearance, Robin," Slade finished Robin's sentence. He walked around to the other side of the bed, "You had a nasty landing, too. If only you had seen the mess your back was in."

Robin shut his eyes in anger, but forced himself to ask, "What do you mean? What happened with my back?"

"Nothing really, but you have some bruises or two. A couple scrapes here and there and you came close to needing stitches in some places, but the tree log decided to be nice to you this time," Slade said, enjoying the look of disbelief on the boy wonder's face.

How pathetic could he be? He was stuck in Slade's lair (wherever that was), he was barely able to move a muscle and he had been stupid enough to get himself into this mess. Well, alright, he wasn't stupid, just careless. Or maybe just... Robin struggled to find the right condescending word for himself, but then realized what he was doing and stopped. He looked up at Slade with a glare. but Slade was only enjoying every second of this.

Enough of this, "What do you want with me Slade? You want me to become your stupid apprentice again? Well, guess what? It's not going to work. It didn't last time and it certainly won't work now. "

"Last time, I was lenient. It's not going to be that way this time," Slade calmly said.

"I'm not going to work for you! I've told you that! You've got nothing on me and you've got nothing on anyone else!" Robin screamed as his voice began to return along with a bit of panic.

Slade only smiled, "Do you think I need that? Robin, you under estimate me. I might not have anything on you, but you forget that you are my captive, prisoner if you'd like to be called that."

"I prefer neither of them," Robin replied hotly.

"Figured you'd be like that," Slade said while nodding, "But like it or not, your current situation is what it is. And Robin, I have many ways of breaking a person. Even the most headstrong horse can be broken. It's just a matter as to how it's done."

"There's nothing you can say or do that will make me work for you willingly, Slade," Robin answered bitterly.

"That's never the first step, Robin; obedience is. And trust me when I tell you that I'll be able to find something and I can make sure of that," Slade shot back.

Robin just gaped. Ever since Slade had come to Jump, he'd been a threat, not just to the city, but to the Titans, and to him. Learning that the man was searching for an apprentice didn't make it any better. In fact, as Robin was starting to find out, the more he knew about Slade, the worse it got. When he had found out about the apprenticeship, it was because Slade had him in mind. And despite knowing what he did know, Robin was still in the dark about who Slade really was and why he did what he did. Slade was a mystery, one that remained in the shadows where he was allowed to freely cause mayhem and nightmares.

Robin finally looked up at Slade, "You have no way of knowing what will make me work for you."

Slade shrugged, "You're right. I don't know yet... But that's what the term 'Trial and Error' is for."

Perhaps it was Slade's sheer confidence in himself that made Robin feel uneasy, but he forced himself to speak again, "I meant that you'll never get me to obey you."

Slade laughed again. Slade bent down and in a barely an audible whisper told Robin, "We'll see about that, Robin. We'll see."

He stood up straight, leaving Robin with a sick feeling in his stomach as his body tensed. Robin sucked in a breath and shut his eyes tight._ 'Everything's going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine. He's bluffing, he's just bluffing,' _Robin repeatedly thought. But Robin was trained too well to not know if an enemy was lying or not. And Slade wasn't. What was worse was that when Slade was confident about something, it was normally for a reason. And that reason was often because the tables were turned in his favor.

When Slade finally said something it was not what what Robin wanted to hear, "I'd rest if I were you. I know that hearing that from me must be hard, but I'd think you'd be used to it by now, Apprentice."

Slade headed for the door, but Robin called out, "I'm not your..."

Slade walked out, shut the door, and walked off. Robin's shoulder's slouched as he finished his sentence, "Apprentice."

Robin relaxed and rolled onto his side. It felt better to let his back wounds breathe a bit. But because of his current predicament, he didn't really care. He hated being in Slade's Haunts. It was like being in a cage with a vicious animal. It was always watching you from a corner and could pounce at any time. It was unnerving and unsettling. Robin tried to push memories of being Slade's apprentice from his mind. He kept remembering how Slade would call him the perfect apprentice, how he kept saying that they were so alike.

They was not his fondest memories, let's just put it at that. He remembered going to sleep every night, waiting for nightmares to set in. He remembered how always at the end of practices,. Slade would loom over him, like a shadow waiting to ensnare him and drag him down into the darkness. Sometimes his nightmares would involve his friends dying. Sometimes they would have him just enduring torturous training. Worse were those of when he would hear himself doing what Slade told him to do without a grudge or hesitation.

Robin pulled the sheet around him tighter. He hated those memories and even far worse was the fear that Slade could succeed. Robin shuddered and shut his eyes. He had always grown up being called a protégée. Whether it be as an aerialist or as detective and crime fighter, it was a title that had always followed him. But of all things, he did not want it to follow him to the point that it would mean he would become a criminal, mercenary, and crime lord. Of all things...

However troubled his mind was, Robin realized that he did need to get some sleep and once he did, he would be ready to plan how to get out of there. That's all he had to do. That's all. Right? But even as Robin let himself doze off and escape the migraine, he had a sinking feeling that escaping wouldn't be the piece of cake that he wanted it to be...

The night fell outside of the city. The city lights began replacing the stars that would be in the sky. Cars horns honked obnoxiously with people trying to get home. Restaurants had full tables. That's why Richard had to walk far out from the center of town to find a place to eat. After ordering a Sprite and a burger, he set his bag beside him and stared out of the window.

His drink arrived and his waiter said that the burger would be there in about fifteen minutes. Grabbing the drink, he swished around it's contents, the Sprite fizzing around in the glass. It bothered Richard to be stuck doing nothing. He kept searching for a way that he could help. An anonymous tip off? Barging in and just being careful? Nothing. Everything he thought of was shot down by one thing or another. The downfall about being from the future is that you might know what happens, but if you don't know what time you're actually in, you could very well ruin everything.

He was agitated, hungry, and stuck. The burger came and he ate it quickly, both because he was famished and also because of the nasty taste of too much grease. After tipping the waiter, he grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder. Just then three biker men came in. Richard decided to take another swig of the Sprite before leaving. Just as he did the men passed, and Richard's eyes widened. Then he did about five things at once

He gasped, held his head, tripped, fell over, and dropped his drink on one of the men.

Dick fought to keep his vision straight. Almost as quickly as it came on, the headache dissipated. His vision was spotted, but when he finally was able to see he saw a red angry face in his own. Apparently, he had made a new enemy.

"You think that's funny?" The man said pushing Richard onto his side.

"I'm sorry, I don't... know what happened there," Richard answered honestly.

"Oh? I'll tell you what happened there." the man continued, he picked Richard up by the shirt and shoved him close to his face so that Richard nearly gagged on the man's bad breath.

"You just made a fool of me, and no one makes a fool of me without being made a fool of themselves," he said.

Behind him, one of the biker's friends smiled and threw a punch at Richard. But he was aware of it. Kicking out of the biker's grasp, he flipped over and landed upright. Jumping over a table, he ran out the door. He didn't want to take part in a fight, or anything really for that matter. So the sooner he got out of there, the better. Running down an alley way, he jumped onto a fire escape ladder and began to climb up to the roof. He looked over the edge and saw the men running in the opposite direction._ 'What idiots,'_ Richard thought.

He sat down on the cold rooftop and wondered what had happened back there. It was like a painful migraine had been sprung on him and then disappeared as though it hadn't been there. Richard took off the glasses and put on his mask. For some reason, he felt more comfortable with the mask on while he worked. But he didn't need to really think too hard on this one. Robin was with Slade now, no doubt about it. And any doubt that Robin had in himself would lead to a migraine that Nightwing would receive while there. What wonderful situation.

Sighing, he stared out at the bay. The bay was quiet, gentle, relaxed. Dick wondered how things in Bludhaven were. The place was always a mess. Hopefully some superhero was there filling in for him. Richard winced about that. Bruce would know about his absence then. His whole life since he was taken in by Bruce as a kid, it had all been about proving that he was just as good, just as well trained, just as capable.

Going to Bludhaven, when he did, he had promised Bruce that he'd keep it safe. While nothing was really going on when he left, Dick knew that his absence would arouse some commotion. He'd made so many promises. So many he didn't want to break. There were so many people in his life that he cared about and he didn't want to lose any of them.

He wondered whether Kori was okay, what she was doing. He wondered what Starfire, the Starfire here, was doing. He began to reminisce about his relations with his friends now. He remembered feeling so free with the Titans. He remembered how they'd argue over the last slice of pizza and who would do the dishes. He laughed at the thought. The first time they all met. Beast Boy calling him 'Sir' as though he was some sort of general, Cyborg's attitude, Raven's lack of confidence, and... that kiss.

_'Things just don't get much better now do they?' _Richard thought.

_**BOOM!!!**_

Richard turned around to see a large explosion in the center of the city. An office building had been hit, or bombed, or something. His grip on his bag tightened. Should he do something? The Titans could handle it... But someone could be hurt... Where were the Titans anyway? They must be on their way, but it seemed like forever. He could just help out a bit, but the Time Stream... And Slade...

_'Forget this,' _Richard opened his bag and began to pull out his uniform. He was a hero. This is what he did. No one would see him. No one. He'd help if it got out of hand. Once in the blue and black suit, he grappled his way towards the high office buildings. The explosion had caused the whole city to look up from their desks and stop what they were doing. Raven and Starfire flew to the main room where Cyborg met up with them and Beast Boy was on his communicator.

"Guys, this doesn't look good," The shape shifter said as he stopped from flying for a second.

They looked at the image that Beast Boy sent them with his communicator. Flames were everywhere and glass crackled and fell to the streets below.

Raven was the first to speak, "Beast Boy, get to the building, do what you can to put out the fire. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Beast Boy nodded and turned off his comlink. The other three Titans made their way to the roof. The chaotic site could be seen from the bay. Their search for Robin would have to be put on hold. The city's safety was the most important thing at the moment. Raven and Starfire picked up Cyborg and they quickly flew to the explosions that seemed to flare up and burn more and more to no end.

Funny how that works, when you seemingly douse something and you expect it to be gone, but it keeps coming back and back and back.

-T-

**A/N:** How was it? Please Review! I guess I just really felt like writing this week and that's how I got this out early. Oh, did you all enjoy the mastermind's POV? I hope you did. Slade's head is so much fun to get into sometimes. The next chapter may be a little late. Not sure. What a problem Nightwing's in. Trying to change the future can cause problems, you know. Like a label saying: "WARNING: Using this product could induce major migraines." LOL. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Later!

Rena


	7. Chapter 7: Mistakes

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, right. If you still think that I own Teen Titans, then you must have skipped every other disclaimer I've ever written up. That being said, I don't own Teen Titans.

**Author's Note:** So here I am with another chapter. Oh man, I've never been happier to finish a chapter up. I honestly can't believe that it took me this long. Well, actually I can. You see what happened was that for some reason I got on a imaginative juice flow for romance and so I've been working on both this chapter and a small romance story. Figures. I blame Valentine's Day. Anyway, that story is now actually up. It's title is "Undying Love" and it came out better then I thought it would. By the way, Happy Belated Valentine's Day! I hope you all found love, or at the very least just had a good day. Now this chapter is done and posted and I think you'll all like it. So may I present "Chapter Seven: Mistakes"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Seven: Mistakes**

There are often signs of danger that is to come. Birds will fly away. Sometimes, there's an utter silence. But this time, it was terrified screams. The fire from the skyscraper changed the blue night sky to one that was smokey black. The ground was being littered with debris that was falling, often landing on parked cars and the empty streets surrounding the building.

When the Titans got there it was like seeing fire rain from the sky only it rained from a skyscraper, along with glass and dangerous falling objects. Raven and Starfire dropped Cyborg on the ground and Beast Boy dropped down next to him.

"Titans, go!" Cyborg yelled and immediately they went into action.

Starfire and Raven headed up towards the building's large gash. Starfire went inside and began to search the place, looking for anyone in need of a quick escape. Raven stopped before the gash and began to stop the falling debris and rubble. Beast Boy went to a fire hydrant and screwed the cap off to get the water to start pouring out. Once he did that he started to move the water to where it was needed. Lastly, Cyborg moved people on the ground out of harm's way and brought those who were hurt to the ambulances waiting on the sides.

None of them were aware of the darkly clad figure on the nearby roof top. Crouched in the shadows, Nightwing watched the Titans' patterns of movement. His eyes followed the general patterns. But at the same time, he quickly assessed what could be the cause of the explosion. Buildings don't just blow up for no reason. Other than the fact that it was an office building for lawyers, Nightwing couldn't determine any reason for the attack. Then again, it had been a while since he had been there and he still struggled with a bad headache that kept reappearing every now and then.

Once he memorized the routes, he took off. There were probably still people trapped inside and he wasn't about to let the fact that the Titans were currently short a member be the reason that they might live or die. For a long time, the fire in the building raged angrily. The Titans worked tirelessly to get people out of harm's way.

As Starfire flew up to get more people out, Raven stopped her, "This fire isn't stopping. While you're looking for people, look for a possible source of the fire!"

Starfire nodded and flew in. The air was thick with smoke and it was foggy. The flames dared to try to lick her skin, but her flight path denied them. She came to a small office building. The door was shut and locked. Starfire ripped open the door and saw huddled underneath a desk was a woman and a little girl that must have been her daughter. Starfire walked forward and they looked up at her.

"Do not worry. I'll--" She didn't get to finish when she heard a crackling, "Wait here."

She looked out the door way and instead of the normal smoky smell, there was a smell of chemicals. She flew to where a staircase was. She walked down it about one flight and saw a sparkling flame. As she opened the door, her eyes widened as she saw that she was too late. She didn't even get the count down, it was just:

Zero.

_**BANG! **_

Starfire screamed and felt herself hit the glass as she was flung across the room by the blast. It sent her flying into the next building and made an impressive crack in the wall. Starfire fought to shake off the shock when she heard a scream. She looked up and saw the woman and her daughter on the level above the blast. A piece of the floor broke off and the woman began to fall. Instantly alert, Starfire raced up and caught the woman. She caught the woman and brought her back to the ground. The woman shakily got her balance, but then pointed up to where her daughter was.

"Go, I will get her!" Starfire shouted at the woman who nodded and was escorted to an ambulance.

With that Star flew off. But something unexpected happened. With little warning, Starfire found herself being rammed into the roof of the building across the street. The cause? A jinx. Starfire looked up to see Gizmo and Jinx on the edge of the rooftop. Starfire rubbed her head as Gizmo gloated.

"Nice one Jinx," he said.

"Thanks," she replied with a smirk.

"Why are you doing this?" Starfire asked, confused at why they would be attacking the building.

She could hear Mammoth attacking on the other side of the building where Cyborg and the others were and she could already tell that the bombs had been Gizmo's doing. The two looked at each other and smiled.

"Just another grade, you know?" Jinx answered.

"Yeah, cause mayhem, an explosion, and beat you scuzz-balls," he said with a wicked little grin, "Let's go help out Mammoth."

Jinx nodded. Starfire stood up and shook off the pain. She looked around and saw Jinx getting a ride from Gizmo. With a yell, she flew straight at their direction, ready to deliver a world of hurt. Jinx looked behind her and noticed their unwanted follower.

"Gizmo," she said.

Gizmo looked back and saw her. "Don't worry, I got this one."

With that, he pulled out his side cannon. With the remote control, he aimed right above the Titan. He pressed the "A" button and with that, a small missile launched right at her. Starfire saw it coming, but was surprised when it went above her. But in an instant she knew why. The explosion made in the wall sent debris right her way. As she fell, she looked up at where the little girl was in the skyscraper. The floor was shaking. She landed hard in an alleyway. Looking up, she saw the floor pieces give, and give and give. They didn't last for more then a second and with it, the girl fell.

"No!" She yelled.

She attempted to free herself from the debris, but knew she wouldn't make it in time. But in a millisecond, she saw the girl halt in what seemed like mid air. Starfire scrunched her eyes up in shock. She flew up to the girl and saw that she was hanging onto a small grapple line, but there was not a Birdarang at the end of it. Instead, it was a foreign object, one that seemed very familiar, but still strange. Star began to bring the girl down to safety when something caught her eye.

Determined to find out what was going on, she let the girl down and then hurried up to where she saw something inside the building. She heard a sip line being shot and quickly raced around to where the sound came from. She knew that she should have been helping the other Titans and that she was probably wasting her time. But something in her gut told her to just investigate just in case.

She went over to the roof where the zip line had probably been fired. She looked around but saw nothing. Confused, she landed and put her hands on her hips as she scanned the place. Starfire went over to the rooftop entrance. The door was closed and the doorknob was locked in place from the rust. Star shook her head in slight disbelief and turned to go but bumped headlong into someone.

She didn't fall, but when she looked up at who she had met on the roof her eyes widened ten fold and her jaw dropped. Nightwing looked panicked and quickly stifled what he guessed was about to be a scream. He shook his head at her, but Star kept starring up at him as though she was seeing a ghost.

"Star, I'm not here. You're seeing things." He said quickly, but the damage was done.

He let her go and she stammered out, "Nightwing? How? What? Are you...?"

Nightwing shook his head at her. He had screwed up. Big time. What was worse was that she was asking him questions and he hated not giving her answers. 'What are you going to do now, Grayson?' he asked himself.

"Star, I owe you a lot of answers, but I can't answer them. Not here. Later. Meet me tomorrow night, at the needle, 8:30 ," Nightwing told her, "I'll tell you then. Don't tell the others that you've seen me or where you're going, okay?"

He looked at her pleadingly. As much as Starfire wished that she could receive her answers now, something told her to do what he said. It was still a shock to her that she was even seeing him. And everything just resulted in more questions. But finally, she nodded her consent.

"Thank you, Star," he said gratefully, with a smile.

Starfire nodded again. Nightwing backed off the porch and with a jump, vanished from sight. Starfire shook herself to make herself think logically and then ran over to the side of the building where Nightwing had disappeared.

"Nightwing?" she called out.

Only her echo returned. She saw nobody, nothing, just shadows and alleyway garbage. A loud bang alerted Starfire to the fight still going on. Sighing, she flew off in that direction. Star kept questioning why she had seen him and what he was doing here. And he had seemed... different. He seemed much more like... he had stayed closer to the Titans and he was just plain happier. She smiled slightly, maybe the future was changed after all for the better. She couldn't be sure, but it was a great feeling to think that. Though from how he acted, he seemed like there was a danger, perhaps having to do with Robin's disappearance; A danger that she and the others didn't know about.

Nightwing found himself panting hard against a wall when he finally stopped. What had he just done? What on Earth had he just done? He'd done something stupid that's what he'd just done. And to make it worse, he'd agreed to meet her tomorrow night. Of all things, he should have just stuck to the stupid 'I'm not here, you're seeing things' line, not agree to see her again. And now that he had saved that girl (while that was a good thing), Slade could easily have picked his trail. _'That man's a literal hunter,'_ Nightwing thought.

He sighed, irately. _'Well,'_ he reasoned with himself, _'You've already messed up a little bit of your future, seeing Star again won't make things much worse, right?'_ He shook his head again. He had an odd feeling, too. It had been... weird to see Kori younger again. He smiled as he realized why he hadn't been able to say no to her. Because he never could. Looking around, he found a deserted place to change out of his uniform. Once he was back in normal clothes, he ran over to the closed off streets to see how things were going. An armored car's doors were shut and the Titans were standing in the street watching it drive off. _'It's weird to see all of them,' _Richard thought.

The police wouldn't let him closer (he didn't expect them to). So instead he waited to see how things cleared up. He couldn't tell exactly what they were all doing, but he could see what they seemed to be like. Raven looked tired as her eyes were drooping. Beast Boy seemed to be in the mood for a good video game to top off the hour of his searching while Cyborg looked like he was ready to finish his work and then go to bed. And Starfire? She appeared to be... concerned, but she wouldn't voice it to anyone. They probably all just thought it was because Robin was missing.

_'There's more reasons to worry than you think,'_ Richard thought sadly.

Turning to go, Richard decided to look for a place to stay for the night. He also had to move just in case Slade had somehow seen that little stunt. Walking down the street and around the corner, Richard saw a small hotel that had rooms available. It was a good thing, too, because he was really tired and sore. Checking in, Richard went into a room with the intent of at least trying to get a decent night's rest.

But while Richard found himself drifting off to sleep, someone else found themselves waking up. Robin's eyes opened and he craned his head for a minute to look around. He felt much better than he had earlier and the only pain he really felt was the small one in his stomach. Groaning, he pulled the sheets over his head. Slade wasn't there, which was at the moment, a good thing. Robin quickly assessed his possible escape routes. Finally, an idea popped into his head. Robin scrunched up into a ball, as though he was cold and waited. He didn't have to wait long. The door opened about two minutes later and Slade entered the room.

"Sleep well?" the mastermind asked sarcastically.

"No, do you know how cold it is in here?" Robin shot back.

"Not very," Slade responded.

Robin could tell that Slade was enjoying the conversation already, "What do you want now?"

Slade sighed, "I saw that you were awake and came in to check up on you."

"You sound like a doctor," Robin shot.

"I might as well be," Slade answered.

Robin glared, "Whatever. What are you planning to do with me now?"

"We'll see how you recover before I go into that, young man," Slade said and turned to go.

Robin smiled and quickly thrust out his feet, aiming for Slade's back. His smile vanished off of his face when not only did he not hit Slade, but he found his legs caught in Slade's tight grasp. Just from looking at Slade's eye, Robin could tell that he was in serious trouble.

"Well, it appears that you have recovered," Slade stated, cunningly.

Robin shook his head as though denying what he had just proven and also because he was in disbelief.

Slade continued, "I was going to send you off to a nicer room, but I think this behavior is cause for something different."

Robin just shook his head again, his mouth open. Robin gasped as he felt himself being thrust out of the bed. Slade grabbed his hair and yanked it hard so that Robin was kneeling on the ground. Robin clenched his teeth to keep himself quiet.

"Does that hurt, Robin?" Slade asked.

Annoyed, Robin attempted to strike Slade, but Slade caught it and forced up into an uncomfortable position. With that, Robin screamed and gasped, trying to will away the pain.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Slade said as Robin struggled.

Slade picked Robin up and forced the Boy Wonder to his feet. Half dragging him, Slade brought Robin into a hallway and down to the end of a corridor. Opening the door, Slade pulled Robin inside by the hair.

"Can't you get it that when someone says that they don't want to be your..." Robin began, but stopped as he felt something prick and go into his neck.

"Do you really want to finish that sentence?" Slade asked, pushing down on the needle's end.

Robin gasped as he instantly felt queasy and disoriented. His legs began to shake and he found himself soon sprawled out on the floor. He attempted to look up at Slade who was standing by the doorway, but his head felt heavy and hard to lift and the light hurt his eyes.

"That is only part of a sedative. It's not strong enough to knock you out, but as you can probably already tell it can make you disoriented," Slade said.

Robin struggled to keep his vision straight. He saw Slade kneel down next to him and grab his hair again so that he was forced to look into Slade's eye, "One of the first things you should know is when to hold your tongue. The second is that your disobedience will not be tolerated."

Robin shook his head, but stopped as it made his head hurt, "There's no reason... for me... to obey you!"

"Robin," Slade said shaking his head, "Don't you know what the term 'apprentice' means?"

Robin could only stare at him. Slade let go and brought something out of a drawer of a dresser in the room: another needle. Robin saw and did what he could to move himself away from Slade, but to no avail. Slade grabbed Robin by the collar and picked him up so that Robin was standing. Robin shook his head violently to avoid the needle, but Slade had an answer for that too. Grabbing Robin's head, Slade forced the teen to stop his wriggling long enough to give Robin the rest of the sedative. Robin gasped again, but soon, his movements ceased and he found himself going limp.

Slade smiled. The boy's fiery temper really was something to admire. It needed a sedative to put out, if only for a while. Slade picked Robin up and brought him to the bed that was in the room. Once that was done, he went out of the room and locked the door. A quick three minutes and Slade reached his main room and computer monitors. Seeing the new email, he read it quickly and replied to the HIVE with a nice check that would keep them happy. He had to ward off the Titans somewhat, even if they didn't know he was involved.

_'The Titans haven't been on their toes, though,' _Slade thought and with it, an evil smile appeared on his masked face.

-T-

**A/N:** So? How was it? Please Review! Robin and Nightwing are not having fun whatsoever. I hope to get the next chapter out in a week's worth of time, but knowing my luck it will probably be out around the Monday or Wednesday after next Saturday. But I really hope that I will be able to put it out. Also, when the next chapter, Chapter Eight, comes out, I will have review replies to my anonymous reviewers on my Fan Fiction Homepage that will be up until Chapter Ten. So, yeah! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Later!

Rena


	8. Chapter 8: A Search Day

**Disclaimer:** Okay, I might be listening to the theme song in Japanese, but that doesn't mean that I own them. Got it? I don't own Teen Titans. I wish I did, though...

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone, sorry that this is late, but I told you that it probably would be. Okay, for starters, I originally had this chapter all planned out, but when I wrote it down, it was too long for my standard chapter. So now it's split into two chapters. The next chapter will be up soon as it is already written – it just needs editing. So I hope that will make up for my lateness. So anyways, I hope that you enjoy the chapter! May I present "Chapter Eight: A Search Day"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Eight: A Search Day**

The doors to Titans Tower opened and the group quietly walked in. Sure, they had won, but that didn't solve their bigger problem. They were all tired and sore. The first thing that Beast Boy did when he went in was walk over to the couch and fall on top of it. Cyborg went to the computers to type in an account of the fight and what they had gathered. Normally it wasn't his job, but with Robin currently missing, it was.

Starfire had been quiet on the way home, but her mind had been going around frantically trying to find explanations for Nightwing's sudden appearance. The biggest thing that worried her was that it had to do with Robin's disappearance. Her stomach had lurched at the possibility that maybe they wouldn't see him again, but she managed to settle herself with the logical reasoning that Nightwing might only be there to warn them about something.

Raven went over to the kitchen and began making a pot of herbal tea. Coming home, she had snapped at Beast Boy and was clearly not in the best mood. She rubbed her temples and breathed in the aroma of the tea as it was made. It was soothing, relaxing. Nothing was really bothering her, it was just that she was having trouble concentrating. Star saw her and walked over.

"Raven, do you... are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine, Starfire," Raven said, "Just a bit of trouble concentrating."

"Can I help in any way?" Star asked.

"I really just need quiet," Raven replied, "That's all."

"Oh," Starfire said, "Okay."

Starfire walked off into the main area where the couch was and sat down, careful to avoid the tired Beast Boy. She had hoped that Raven might have been able to explain the appearance of Nightwing, but then again, she didn't think that she would have been able to ask her in the first place. Nightwing had asked her to not say a word and for some reason, she trusted his judgement. Then again, she trusted Robin's judgement as well, so it wasn't a big surprise. After a moment, Cyborg got up and turned to the two Titans on the couch.

"Hey, um, y'all want to get Raven? I think we need to talk." he said quietly.

"Yeah, I'll get her, dude," Beast Boy said and got up to get her.

As they waited, Cyborg noticed that Starfire's normally cheerful face was now deep in thought, "Everything okay?" he asked.

After a moment she answered with a nod, "Yes, everything is fine."

Cyborg didn't quite believe her, but he shrugged it off as her being worried about their team leader. Beast Boy did manage to get Raven, which was surprising in itself, and he managed to do it without getting a shriek with it.

"What is this all about?" She asked, obviously warning Cyborg to make it short because she was close to going to her room.

"Well, here's the thing, the H.I.V.E. didn't know about Robin being missing. We were lucky to even beat them. So before people start taking notice that Robin's gone or out of action, I think we need to find him so that never happens. We still don't even know if he's hurt or not," Cyborg said summing it up.

"Man, we're tired, how can you suggest that?" Beast Boy asked, and received a slap to the head from Raven.

"I didn't say right now. I just meant that we need to work a little harder tomorrow. Is that too much?" Cyborg responded.

Star looked down at her feet. She kept questioning if she should say something. But she didn't. It was half because she was battling with herself about it and half because she felt that she should wait and see what Nightwing had to say. Raven was the first to break the silence.

"What do you suggest?" She asked.

Cyborg turned around and pulled up a screen on the monitors, "First, we need to retrace and find that sub-pod. It's not like it's a hard thing to do."

"I already looked, Cy," Beast Boy said, "What now?"

"You were cut off because of the building fire. We need to go back and make a thorough search of the area. Look, I'll go back with you later and we'll search. For now, I say we rest up and prepare ourselves for tomorrow. I'll rebuild the T-Sub of what we have as well. Tomorrow we'll start working. Got it?" Cy answered.

The group nodded. Raven didn't say even a word before teleporting herself out of the room. Beast Boy looked at Cyborg and Starfire. Starfire sighed and then went over to the window and looked out at the city. Beast Boy got up from the couch and walked up to Cyborg.

"Is she okay?"

"She will be, you know how she can get so concerned about us," Cyborg said, and he couldn't help but add, "Especially Robin."

Beast Boy had to resist a slight snicker and instead just smiled, "When are they going to get together, anyway?"

Cyborg just shook his head and started to pull out another controller from the Gamestation, "I don't know, but if this keeps up, I'll never get fifty bucks out of you."

"And you never will," Beast Boy said, jokingly as he sat down next to his friend to play his game, "By the way, have you asked Bumble Bee out yet?"

"Shut up, man, and play," Cyborg replied.

Locking the door tightly, Raven took a minute of deep breathing before she went to her bed, where she fell flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling with a look of loathing as though it was the cause of her lack of concentration. If there was one thing that she disliked more then Beast Boy's jokes, it was when she couldn't concentrate. Sighing, Raven sat up and levitated herself above her bed. Looking at the candles and incense around the room, she waved for them to come over and light around her bed. Exhaling slowly, she attempted to center herself.

Once ready, she vocalized her thoughts, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."

As she attempted to focus, she tried to make herself think of anything that would throw her off balance so that she could dispel it. Her first thought was the fight, but that didn't seem to be it. The second was Robin missing, but that didn't seem to be a logical reason since that had never happened before. She pulled out a spell book and decided to search it's pages for a remedy for her lack of concentration, which was beginning to turn into a slight headache.

The sky outside began to twinkle with the stars. The Titans each went to bed. The boys were lucky and got a peaceful sleep. The girls, on the other hand, were lucky to get any at all. Nightwing slept soundly, not a thing bothering him except for elusive dreams of home. The moon shone brightly, but clouds threatened to wash over it and make it disappear from the sky. The next morning, the sky was an unsettling gray as the clouds had succeeded in taking over the domain.

Each of the Titans woke up, the boys being the first, the girls being the last. Beast Boy walked past Raven's room, but heard nothing, which was odd considering that he would probably hear something since they were all supposed to get up early for the day. Debating as to whether or not he should do something, the changeling finally decided to just knock on the door.

"Um, hello? Raven?" He said.

After a moment of no response, he turned to go when the door opened, "Yes?"

"Um, aren't you coming?" Beast Boy asked uncertainly.

"No, I can't concentrate so I won't be any help," The gothic girl responded.

"Um, okay," Beast Boy said. He turned to go again, but looked back at her, "Is uh, is everything alright?"

Raven shook her head as though something was irritating her, but it wasn't Beast Boy, "I don't know."

Beast Boy nodded and turned to go again, "Okay, well, see ya."

Raven nodded, said nothing, and then shut her door. As he walked down the hall, Beast Boy thought that he'd never fully understand Raven, but maybe he could understand why she did what she did. If not that, he had already made it a goal to make her laugh at one of his jokes, so that was good enough for him. Walking in, he saw Cyborg and Starfire looking over the computer screens.

"Where's Rae?" Cyborg asked.

"Not feeling too good or something," Beast Boy answered.

"Alright, well, in that case, I already traced where the sub-pod's last transmission came from. It got turned off for some reason. I think it was either a battery malfunction or possibly Robin turned it off for some reason. It was probably the former, though," Cyborg said.

"So then where is the sub-pod?" Starfire asked.

"Somewhere around forest camp grounds," Cyborg answered, "It's probably covered in junk or stuck somewhere."

"So what are we going to do?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, my guess is that it's probably still in the water somewhere or nearby. I'll search on land and you Beast Boy will search along the coast line in the water."

"What shall I do?" Starfire asked.

Cyborg looked at Beast Boy and then answered, "Look, Star, I think you should lay back today."

"Cyborg, no, I could not!" Starfire said, obviously upset.

"Look, you're stressed and someone needs to stay behind in case Raven needs something," Cyborg answered, hoping it was enough of a reason.

"Is there not anything that I could do from here?" Star asked.

"Well..." Cyborg trailed off.

"Could she track something of Robin's?" Beast Boy asked.

Both Titans looked at him in astonishment that he had even said something remotely useful and smart at the same time.

"Yeah, I'll set you up with that, Star. You think you can follow that?" Cyborg said, still looking at Beast Boy as though wondering what alien race had replaced him.

"Oh yes, Tamaran has systems such as that," Starfire replied fully confident and ready to help out.

With that, the group dispersed and went out to do their jobs. As Cyborg and Beast Boy stepped outside, they could already smell the fresh scent of the ocean that came from the overcast weather. Cyborg got to the camp grounds and started to search. It was going to be a long day. They had a good ten miles of coast to search, not to mention the general area.

As Beast Boy stared out at the forest and ocean scenery, he answered with the one thought that came to his mind, "We're not having any fun today are we?"

"Nope," Cyborg replied.

The boys began their search with barely a word. The sun slowly rose before the city, but it was covered by the clouds. The day dragged on to be a warm and muggy one. Raven stayed in her room most of the day, while Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire continued to search. Around 10:00, Richard woke up in his hotel room. He considered going out for the day, but decided against it. Here he was out of the way, out of danger, and out of view.

The room wasn't much and it was incredibly depressing to think that for the rest of the day, he was confining himself to it. Sighing, he finally got out of bed and began to pace the room. On the table was a list of foods he could order for meals, but he didn't feel too much like eating at the moment. If he could, he would prefer to be out there, fighting Slade and demanding that the man release his younger self. But of course, it wasn't an option and that fact was driving him up the wall in frustration.

He opened up the window shades and looked out at the city. It was actually kind of relaxing. Unlike the dreariness of Bludhaven or Gotham, Jump had a sense about it that made it sparkle cleanly in the day and in the night. In the back of his mind, he told himself to remember to take some time off and come here with Kori. The city skyscrapers seemed to be thrust out into the sky and the ocean almost called out to anyone who looked at it.

What he knew that he couldn't see however were the older areas of the city, the area in which Slade was hiding. Shaking his head, Richard went over to desk, pushed the hotel information to the side and grabbed his gauntlet. He took everything that he had out and looked at each piece (which was surprisingly a lot of stuff). Growling in frustration as he saw nothing that could really help him, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes, irritably.

It was just like Slade to make a plan where the only person who knew that there was any danger couldn't or wouldn't talk. Nightwing put his things back into his gauntlets and in the closest where he had stored his uniform. Maybe he would take them out later if the time called for it. A knock on the door alerted him. The door opened slowly to reveal an older woman carrying towels.

"Oh, excuse me, room service." she asked upon seeing him.

"Um, no I'm good for now, thank you," Richard responded.

The woman nodded and closed the door. Richard put a hand to his head, grabbing his hair in disbelief at what he was probably going to do all day. It would probably consist of having breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with watching TV. Things just didn't get much better than that now, did it? If he was lucky, he might be able to come up with some sort of plan or course of action regarding Slade.

Collapsing back onto the bed, he grabbed the remote on the bed and turned on the TV. He flipped the channels and searched through the list of movies that was at least five or so years out of his time, all of which he'd seen at least a dozen times or if he hadn't seen them, he hadn't wanted to. He looked up at the ceiling thinking that there were only a few things that were more miserable than being confined to a room.

Somehow he managed to pass the time. Jump's heroes continued their search throughout the day, but not getting much of anywhere, though. The clock hands ticked by as the sun passed over the city. Starfire began to have luck around mid-day (after several calls to Cyborg to ask the conversions of what she considered to be Tamaranean devices to Earthly devices).

All she could tell was that sometime shortly after they had all gathered, Robin's signal had been turned off and then obliterated in the sense that there was no longer anything to track. It could always be that something had happened to force Robin to turn it off. And if could always be that he accidentally broke it.

But something in her gut told her that wasn't it. Sighing, the Tamaranean walked over to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. Sipping it thoughtfully, she couldn't ignore the pit of gloom in her stomach so she decided she could perhaps visit Raven. Going down the corridor to Raven's room, she instantly felt a cold rush pass through her and it seemed to get colder as she went.

"Raven?" She asked as she got to her friend's door.

The coldness received and a moment later, Raven appeared at the door, "Yes?"

"I was wondering... um, perhaps... uh, would you, do you think that Robin is okay?" Starfire asked, knowing that she was interrupting Raven with whatever she was doing for something quite small.

"I'm sure he's fine, Starfire," Raven said, light-headed, but knowing fully well that Starfire needed the reassurance.

Starfire nodded then noticed her friend's condition, "What was that cold Raven?"

"It was a spell that was supposed to relieve stress and help me concentrate. But it wasn't the right one since apparently I don't have any real stress," She responded in a monotone that hinted at irritation at the spell.

"Oh," Starfire said, "Well, I'll just get back to the computers and..."

"Starfire."

"Hm?"

"He'll be fine," Raven said, "Quit worrying so much."

Starfire looked at Raven and in an instant started to hysterically ramble quickly, "Oh, I know friend Raven. But we have not seen him for a day. His locator is off or destroyed! And he could be hurt or lost or unconscious or have a bone that is broken! And it is not like him! What if something terrible or horrible has happened? What if we never see him again or what if someone like the Brotherhood of Evil has found him? Ah! Where on Earth or Tamaran could he be?"

Raven was full-out scared at the girl's sudden hysterical outburst. Why is it that when she just said one thing nice, Starfire could start to talk at a speed so fast that you could barely understand what she was saying? This was the one thing about being Starfire's friend that Raven was not good with: Emotional Trauma.

"Look, uh, Star, just don't worry. He's come out of worse things before. He'll come out of this." Raven said.

Star looked up at her gothic friend and nodded. Sensing escape at hand, Raven took her chance, "Okay, well, why don't you go back to work and I'll try to regain my concentration."

Starfire nodded and left, not noticing Raven breath a sigh of relief and go back to her room to meditate. The day went on as the team searched. Cyborg and Beast Boy covered the ground area and Starfire kept at narrowing down the locator and anything else that might be of use to them. They didn't get much of anywhere, but it was better then getting nowhere at all. But even as they did, in the late afternoon hours something was about to go awry. Robin hadn't noticed a thing as the hours had passed. Nothing had dared to disturb his sleep... Until now.

-T-

**A/N:** Well, there it is. It's actually better then I expected that it would be. When I was cutting the original chapter in two, I thought that this was going to be a total dud if I didn't add to it. So I hope you enjoyed it. Please Review! I know it was kind of a slow chapter, but I promise, the next one will go by so fast, you'll be like "What? It's over already?". So yeah. I'll be back later this week with Chapter Nine! Later!

Rena


	9. Chapter 9: Dismay

**Disclaimer:** I might know Teen Titans inside and out, but as my friends have been shocked to find out, I don't own Teen Titans. There. I said it. Happy? Good.

**Author's Note:** I told you this would be up shortly. And I was right! Hahaha! I've beaten all of those annoying things that get in my way of just sitting down and typing! Well, at least for now. Now I know I didn't mention this in the last chapter, but I have bumped up the rating of this story to a "T" rating from a "K+" because I thought the last scene in Chapter Seven was a little harsh. If you didn't notice that, I just wanted to let you know. So this chapter is technically originally part of the last chapter, but I decided to cut the chapter in two. Now we will join Robin in this little nightmare of his. So may I present: "Chapter Nine: Dismay"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Nine: Dismay**

"Come on, Robin," he heard a voice call out, "Wake up..."

Robin groaned. His senses were still fading in and out, not wanting to comply. He could feel himself laying down. He couldn't piece much together except for the bits of what he could sense. For some odd reason, he didn't want to get up. He didn't want to get up and possibly face a nightmare. His eyes slowly shifted open to narrow slits as he groaned again.

"I know you can hear me Robin, now wake up," the voice said again. It wasn't angry, more so, it seemed to be humored by Robin's current state.

Things became more clear. Robin felt something brushing his cheek, something undeniably thin, seemingly light, but also sharp. Although, it wasn't enough to cut the skin because there wasn't enough pressure. Robin's eyes opened more now. He looked down and felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw the fine blade of a knife rubbing against his face. His eyes widened and he stiffened. Slade looked down and chuckled.

"Well, that's one way to get you up." he said.

Robin said nothing as the knife was still unsheathed, still a possible weapon. Slade watched as Robin flinched slightly as he waved the knife gently in one hand. Knowing the fun must end, Slade put it away. Robin let out a breath that he hadn't realized that he had been holding and began to sit up.

Slade walked over to the other side of the small room and Robin decided to try to get some more answers, "What good does it do keeping me here?"

"Robin, do you really expect to get that answer out of me when you know it yourself?" Slade asked, slightly amused.

Robin looked down at his feet on the bed. He had a vague theory of why Slade was keeping him there: to keep him out of sight, out of the way, or ready until needed. Basically he was in storage.

"But you'll be happy to know that you won't be confined to this room all of today." Slade said it in a way that made Robin sure that the man was smiling.

"Why?" Robin asked uncertain as to whether or not he wanted to know the answer.

"You'll see, get up," Slade said.

"What?"

"Get up." Slade repeated and forcefully, grabbed Robin by the arm and forced him to his feet.

Robin wrenched his arm out of Slade's grasp and was about to turn around to face him when he was able to hear the knife almost being unsheathed. Looking down, he realized that his belt was no longer there; no weapons to fight back with. Absolutely nothing. Sour at this, he halted his movements.

"Would you care to walk out and take a right?" Slade asked calmly.

Robin grudgingly stepped forward and did what Slade said. Slade stayed behind Robin the entire time. He wasn't too far away for Robin to make a run for it and he also cut off the opposite escape route. This was all just perfect. Robin looked around at himself. Perhaps that's when he noticed that he might be in more trouble then he had originally thought. His red and green shirt was gone along with his green gloves and black shoes. He assumed that most of his clothes had been wet from the fight with Triton or in the way when Slade had been fixing up his back. All he had was his pants and his mask, which, unfortunately, wasn't much in terms of protection in a fight.

As they went down the hallway, Robin noticed a door on the other end. When they got there, Slade shoved Robin to open it. Robin did hesitate as to what he might find on the other side. But finally, he opened it and stepped inside. The ground was cold and the room was dark, pitch dark. The door shut behind him and he could no longer feel Slade behind him. Turning around, he latched on to try to force the door open, but was unsuccessful.

"Robin, do you honestly think that I would lead you to a un unlocked door so you could escape?" Slade asked from the darkness.

Robin suppressed a shudder and refused to respond. From out of nowhere, Robin heard a bo-staff come at his head. Thankfully, he dodged it by barely a second. Landing on his hands, Robin rolled away as fast as he could until he hit a wall. He forced his eyes to adjust to the light. Upon opening them, he heard a bo-staff being thrust again out of nowhere and right at him. It hit the wall and landed next to him on the floor.

"Do you really think that I'd make this an unfair fight?" Slade asked, still cloaked by the shadows.

"Maybe you'd like it like that." Robin responded.

"Maybe," Slade said as small lights flickered on and illuminated the place dimly. "But that's not much of a challenge, now is it?"

Robin still couldn't see Slade. In fact, the sudden light hurt his eyes. He stood up, grabbed the staff, and put himself in a fighting stance. He listened for any sign of movement, anything to give Slade's position away. Slade, however, entered the fight swiftly and without warning. With little time to react, Robin felt himself instinctively dodging and deflecting a series of precise blows meant for him. He could see Slade looming over him and felt his pulse quickening.

Slade suddenly delivered a blow that Robin deflected and back up into a wall in the process. "You're trained well, Robin."

Robin smirked slightly, "I was trained by the best, Slade."

Pushing forward, Robin released himself from the forceful capture. Slade seemed to be enjoying this, "Oh yes, I know that, Robin. Believe me, I know."

Robin hated when Slade talked like this. It was always a sudden shift. Normally, he could sound just plain dangerous, with a sharp edge in his voice. But when he slowed down, he said everything as though he was enjoying every word that he said... He seemed to sound like he was in total control and it made Robin's stomach queasy. It meant big trouble.

"But why?"

"Because I wanted to be," Robin answered immediately.

"You misunderstand me, Robin, why did he train you?" Slade asked, again cloaked by the shadows.

Robin thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully so as not to reveal anything, "I was the best choice."

"Of course you were, but why did he even bother to train you?" Slade asked.

Robin searched the room for any sign of his opponent. As Slade finished his voice echoed with an answer that astounded his opponent, "He just needed a pawn, Robin. And why not get a good pawn?"

Robin shook his head. That wasn't the reason. He wasn't a pawn. He wasn't something that could easily be thrown aside. Bruce wouldn't throw him to the side.

"No."

"Robin, he doesn't care about you. He just cares that you can fight," Slade said, still in a shadow.

"What do you know?" Robin asked.

Bruce might never say anything, but he cared. He did. It was hard to explain, but he did. He heard the bo-staff and dodged. While he could fight like this, he still didn't like to. In the dark, who knew what could come crawling out of there?

"I know more than you think I do." Slade's voice echoed, "Have you been to Gotham lately? Has he talked to you at all?"

Robin wouldn't take this. It was time to turn the region. Robin shot, "Why should that matter to you? Besides, why would I want to work for you? I'd probably be worse then a 'pawn' if that was the case."

Slade chuckled and attacked hard, without warning. He didn't hit Robin, but he knocked the staff out of Robin's hands and across the floor and out of view. Robin flipped over and onto his feet again.

"Robin," Slade struck him in the side and caused Robin to roll over and away before standing up again, "I can offer you what they never did."

Robin's eyes darted around for the staff. It was all he had at the moment that was good enough to fight with, but he saw nothing. All he saw was Slade walking up to him. Robin backed away and Slade stopped. Slowly, he retracted the bo-staff so that the two fighters were on even terms.

"Appreciation."

Robin laughed, "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to believe that one."

"As much as you'd like to believe that I wouldn't give it to you Robin, didn't I show it when I fixed up your back? And didn't I just show it by putting us on even terms?" Slade asked, "And how often do they do it?"

Robin stared at Slade with apprehension and confusion on his face, so Slade continued, "Do they know how hard you work? Do they know how over the back, painstakingly you work? And if they did, do they care? Or was it, 'Do something else' or 'Don't bother'?"

Robin took a moment to take in what Slade had just said. He knew that he overworked and that they only were trying to help when they told him to drop his work. He knew they only had his best interests at heart. But then again, so did he. He wanted them safe. He wanted everyone to be okay. He only worked as hard as he did because of them. In the end, it came down to that, right? So weren't they just contradicting him at the risk of their own safety? Slade watched as Robin fought to keep his face straight to keep from revealing his contemplation over what he had just said. It was really quite amusing for the mastermind.

"No," Robin said, "They appreciate what I do."

"Really?" Slade asked.

Robin leaped forward and started the fight up again. He wasn't going to let Slade get the upper hand, "Really."

Slade watched as Robin's moves became quickly rash and not thought out. Pushing Robin backwards into a wall, he stopped the fight again. Robin landed hard on the floor and seethed at the pain in his still not completely healed back.

He hated this. He wanted to go home. He couldn't stand it when Slade played his mind games and what was worse was that he realized that Slade was right. He wasn't always appreciated by his friends or by Bruce. It meant Slade's mind games were working which was never a good thing. It made Robin silently question how the criminal could tap into these things.

"It's still not a good enough reason for me to switch sides, Slade. I would never fight them even if they didn't care," Robin spat.

"You say that now, Robin, but really, that's not the issue here," Slade answered.

"It's part of what you're asking me to do, so I'd think it would. So the answer is 'no'," Robin said while standing up, as though closing off the conversation, but Slade would not have any of it.

It was Slade's turn to start up the fight. Slade kicked swiftly at Robin's ankles, who jumped up and dodged them. He threw a punch at Slade's head, but found Slade side-stepping it. From behind, Slade gave a hard shove and sent Robin skidding across the floor. Robin attempted to stand up quickly, but found a sharp blow to his shoulder forcing him back to the ground.

"How is _this_ for appreciation?" Robin asked bitterly.

"It's not," Slade said simply, "This is called training. Another thing, did he train you this hard?"

Robin looked at Slade like he was crazy to think this was an acceptable method of training and replied, ""No. And for good reason."

"You'll only learn if what you're taught to face the worst." Slade answered, "So even that said, doesn't that say that he didn't even care enough to train you to the maximum?"

Flipping up with a growl, Robin attempted kick Slade in the side which he did end up doing. The fight lasted a mere fifteen seconds. Robin felt a quick pain explode in his head and the Boy Wonder found himself rolling across the floor in a matter of seconds. Slade grabbed Robin by the arm and forced him to stand up.

"Accept it, Apprentice, they don't care about what you do and really, if they cared about you, wouldn't they show it more other than a pat on the back or a 'good work'?"

Robin struggled against Slade's grip, "Shut up!"

_'They care. Of course they care, don't listen to him, don't listen to him... Then again, they don't understand what I do for them. He knows, but he never did seem to care... No! No, don't listen to him, he's wrong, he's lying...'_ Robin thought desperately trying to ignore Slade's argument.

"However," he said, ignoring Robin's scream, "I care. They see your potential, but, as I've said, they'll use you as a pawn."

Robin accusingly asked, "And you won't?"

"Robin, of course, I will ask things of you, but really, I'll give you what you deserve for it and more. I can provide all of it," Slade said and Robin could swear that the man was smiling, "I can give you training and appreciation. And it's no skin off of my back. I wouldn't mind it at all, like _they_ would."

Robin pulled himself free and the two began to spar again. Robin's fluid movements allowed him to dodge most of Slade's powerful attacks, something Slade saw easily. Slade aimed a punch, that Robin easily missed, but it distracted the Boy Wonder long enough to not realize that it was only to trip him. Robin landed on the floor and was victim to several of Slade's hard and quick attacks. Robin shook his head and attempted to get to his feet.

"It's no use fighting it, Robin, you know it's true," Slade said looking as though the work out had been merely a warm up session.

Robin yelled and ran at Slade, adrenaline and anger pumping through his body. Throwing a punch at the man, Robin found himself being stopped by what was apparently Slade's favorite move. Slade caught the oncoming fist dead on. He brought it up into the air and pulled the Boy Wonder's arm back into one of the same uncomfortable positions he always did.

"Just accept it, Robin," Slade said.

If anger, frustration, pain, despair, dismay, and confusion could all be written on one face it would have been on Robin's at that moment. He was angry that he couldn't beat Slade. The pain in his arm felt blinding. And Slade's mind games still were in play which he couldn't make heads nor tails of. He silently wondered where anyone was, if they were doing anything to try to find him. His eyes betrayed his hurt, even though they were covered by the opaque mask. Maybe that was it. It was easy for those who wore masks to read people's emotions despite a mask on the other person's face.

"No," Robin whispered.

Slade swiftly kicked Robin and allowed for the Boy Wonder to fall to the floor, clutching his stomach tightly, "You make everything that much more difficult on yourself."

Robin struggled to look up at Slade, his vision blurry and his head aching. Slade looked down at the boy who was huddled on the floor. Robin was disoriented, but he could feel the bruises slowly forming on his arms. His lower lip bled freely and there was a small cut above his right eye. But he was determined to give Slade the same answer and so he shook his head 'no' once again.

As Robin struggled to at least get on his hands and knees, Slade got down and grabbed him from behind by the shoulders so that Robin was on his knees looking down at the ground, "Robin, do this willingly. There's nothing that you have over there that is worth anything."

Robin's breath was ragged and came in shallow as Slade continued, "Besides, you and I are so _very much... alike_. It would be a shame to see all of your potential and prospects be turned over to people who wouldn't even care."

"They... wouldn't..." Robin breathed out, but barely. It almost sounded like he was choking on his words because they were just too big to get out, "Just... leave me... alone..."

Slade felt Robin go limp. Slade began to pick Robin up, with only slight resistance. He guessed it was because it was all Robin could do. Once Slade scooped Robin up in his arms, he began to carry the still boy back to the room that he had been in before. Looking down, Slade could see Robin was barely conscious. His face betrayed no emotion, but Slade knew that Robin's mind was more than likely running around frantically looking for an explanation that he liked, preferred. Slade put Robin back on the bed as he had before and left as though nothing had happened.

But this event was not one that was ignored or, quite frankly, it just could not be ignored. Nightwing was perched on a rooftop at the moment, routing his path to the Needle in his mind. It had been a while since his last visit to Jump City, after all. Around six in the evening or so, Nightwing had been in his hotel room, minding his own business of course, when suddenly a massive migraine had hit him like the night before in the restaurant. Only this time it lasted longer and caused him to almost black out in the bathroom while he was brushing his teeth. It took no longer then half an hour for Nightwing to determine the cause of it.

He really could do without the headaches. He really could. They were annoying and caused him to loose his ability to think straight. The good thing was that before the migraines he had already pre-planned parts of the conversation that he might have with Starfire that might be safe. He had contemplated not going at all, but that wouldn't solve anything. It could even make matters worse.

By the time the migraines came, Nightwing was glad that he had already planned what to say because he didn't want to have to think much if he could help it. He began to grapple and jump from rooftop to rooftop to get to the Needle. He'd wait there until he saw some sign of Starfire.

In the illuminated Tower in the bay, Starfire was finishing up with the tracking, not having any luck whatsoever. Cyborg and Beast Boy had returned from their search to have dinner. They had gotten three fourths of their search over with and were determined, well Cyborg was determined, to complete the rest of it tomorrow so that their feet wouldn't hurt like they had just spent seven hours clothes shopping with the girls in the mall.

"How's Rae?" Beast Boy asked at the table, while greedily eating the tofu wrap.

"I do not know. I left her some food by her door earlier, but I have not talked to her or seen her for most of the day," Starfire answered.

Starfire looked at the clock on the wall and saw the hands slowly coming toward that of 8:00. She sighed and left the room without saying a word to the boys (She had already had something to eat, so she didn't really need to stick around). Going to the rooftop, she glanced out at the night sky. The Needle was in the center of the city and she could see it clearly glowing like a lighthouse of some kind. She was apprehensive about the meeting as she had no idea what it might bring. But she figured that of all the things, she should just go and see what happens.

After turning on her locator signal, she flew off into the night. It was about 7:55. Nightwing was standing underneath the Needle when he saw a green streak of light quickly head towards the top of the building. He inhaled and exhaled, calmly.

_'Well, here goes nothing Grayson,'_ he thought and began to ascend the building, trying really hard to ignore his migraine that threatened to send him to the hospital at any time.

-T-

**A/N:** Okay, how did you like it? Please review! I know that this chapter was much harder on Robin; okay so more then half of it was Robin fighting Slade and losing terribly. Don't worry, he's still hanging in there... for now... I guess... Anyway, I hope you liked it. I'll be back soon hopefully with Chapter Ten! Later!

Rena


	10. Chapter 10: Altering Time

**Disclaimer:** Excuse me, but how many times have I said that I don't own Teen Titans? I don't know, but by now you should all know that I don't own Teen Titans. Everyone understand? Nod your heads to let me know. Okay then, good.

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I'm finally back with Chapter Ten. And it's a nice and long chapter that I think will keep you on the edge of your seats too! There are about three events happening at the same time, but none of them are happening in the same place. Also, Robin's birthday was this week (I did research on this for about a half hour, there are two first days of spring: the scientific one which is the vernal equinox and the Christian one which is March 21), so I guess we all need to go out and buy him birthday cakes and presents and hope that he doesn't mind parties like Raven does, lol. So I hope everyone had a happy first day of spring! One more thing before you read this chapter, the "T"s are placed in there for easy switches where I couldn't really elaborate on the shifts in view points. Now enough with this, I'll let you get to reading. Presenting "Chapter Ten: Altering Time"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Ten: Altering Time**

Inside Titans Tower, the two boys there finished their dinner, which to Cyborg's disappointment had been meat-free on account of Starfire's flip of the coin earlier when she had ordered dinner.

"So..." Beast Boy started, "What do we do now?"

"You can do what you like, I'm going to search around some more; my eye should spot something." Cyborg said, gesturing to his robotic eye.

"Sure, while calling Bumble-Bee at the same time?" Beast Boy asked, an evil little grin on his face. Cyborg looked at him. It had only been one date and now Beast Boy practically thought the two were married!

"Dude, I think you always assume that I call her!" Cyborg exclaimed, while throwing his hands up in the air, "I think that you think that I call her in my sleep!"

"I hadn't thought of that, but-- wait a minute, can you do that?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg just shook his head, "Why don't you just try cleaning your room? We have some down time, use it for something useful."

"Wait a minute, the point of down time is to be a lazy couch potato!" Beast Boy called out, as Cyborg left the room.

Shaking his head, the changeling got up and headed for his room. Halfway there, he realized that there was no point of going to his room as he wouldn't find any games in that mess anyway. Sighing, he decided to go to the game room. As he turned the corner, the strong smell of incense filled his sensitive nose. He followed the smell to Raven's room. Wondering what the cause for the potent smell was, he knocked on her door.

"Rae?" He called out. Pressing his ear to her door, he heard her muttering something and from the sounds of it, wasn't doing too well.

Opening the door, Beast Boy strode inside to see what was bothering the enchantress, "Raven? Are you...?"

Beast Boy stopped. Raven's eyes were shut tight, despite her normal relaxed meditation position. Hearing her name, Raven stopped chanting and opened her eyes, but barely.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked. She was irritated, but at the same time, she sounded like she was extremely tired.

"Rae, you don't look too good," Beast Boy said, not answering her and instead directing the attention to her pale face (which was paler than normal, if that was possible).

"I'm just trying to preform an incantation, a difficult one; my headache hasn't gotten better," She told him.

"But I thought that you said you just can't concentrate," He said.

Raven looked down at the ground, "It has become something more than that."

"Perfect timing, huh?" Beast Boy joked.

"Beast Boy, you can stay if you help me out, but if you are only going to be irritating, I suggest you leave," Raven said. She wasn't trying to be mean. She was only being blunt and she didn't feel like dealing with things that she didn't have to.

"Okay, I'll help," He said.

Raven turned to him, surprised. He smiled at her like a dork and she sighed, "Okay, will you get those off of my shelf over there?"

As Beast Boy started helping Raven, she started lighting candles making the dark room a little lighter. It was like a city brightening up in the evening, a sight Star saw as she landed on top of the roof of the Needle. There were lights at the top, flashing brightly on and off. It might have been because of how she was raised, but Starfire strode forward, confident across the roof of the needle. If there was one thing that she knew, it was that if you represented something, it was your job to make the first impression; an impression that was _hopefully_ a good one. She knew that Nightwing knew her, but all the same, she wanted him to think that she was confident in what she was doing, even if in her gut she could feel her stomachs squirming with anxiety.

"Nightwing?" She asked the darkness, "Are you here? Nightwing?"

She walked around the sides. Carefully, she looked over the edge and saw the streets below. The dusk was gone from the sky so the city sparkled beyond the rooftop. She turned back and went to the center, wondering if he was going to come up through the doorway. It was, in all honesty, quiet. She was the only one up there and the only sounds that she heard were that of cars below and her own feet scraping against the roof. So the next sound in every way surprised her enough to make her heart skip a beat.

"Starfire?"

She gasped and turned to see where the voice had come from. Nightwing was crouching by the side of the rooftop. He was almost completely hidden and he would have been, if not for the blue on his chest.

"Nightwing, oh, you scared me," She said.

"Sorry," He said, standing up, "I tend to do that sometimes."

"Oh, no, it is fine, I am okay," She answered.

Nightwing nodded and looked down at his feet unsure of how to start the conversation, "I'm sorry that I asked you not to tell anyone that I was here. I just don't... it's complicated."

Star nodded, "Well, do you wish to explain part of it to me?"

Nightwing smiled, "I think you deserve some answers."

Starfire laughed slightly and teasingly answered, "I thank you for your consideration."

"No problem," He said. At the moment, Nightwing struggled with a multitude of things. Looking at Star, he fought off heartache for Kori. But from being in this time, he fought off migraines and showing his discomfort.

"I guess, well, to make it sweet and simple, the future's in danger of being altered," Nightwing told her.

Star bit her lip attempting to choose the best question, "How?"

"Robin's not just unconscious," Nightwing said, "Wherever you think he may be, he's not there. Trust me on that."

"Then, where is he?" Starfire asked.

Nightwing bit his lip, but answered, "With Slade. He has him captive."

Star's eyes widened at the revelation, "What? How did he...?"

"He's been manipulating everything. The fight with Triton, it was him. I can't explain everything, but you just have to trust me on this. He's out to get me or Robin to work for him again," Nightwing told her.

"What future are you from?" She asked.

"What?"

"What future are you from? Is it an altered future or is... the one that we want it to be?" Starfire said, carefully choosing her words so as not to probe into the future.

Nightwing sighed, "I'm from the one that we want it to be. We're still the heroes that fight along side Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. And trust me, they haven't changed a bit."

Starfire nodded. It was a lot to take in, but she did and trusted what she heard. It was almost, in her opinion, hard not to believe him.

"Then, what must we do?"

Nightwing sighed with relief because that she believed him and it almost made his migraine dissipate, if only for a moment.

-T-

Relief, though, was the last thing on Robin's mind. He ached all over and was surprised that he hadn't passed out. The Boy Wonder neither moved nor attempted to. The air conditioning came on and he felt the cool air hit him, uncomfortably making his sweat cool his body rapidly and causing him to shiver. The door opened minutes later with Slade standing in the doorway. Walking inside, Slade glanced down at the hurt teenager. _'Almost there,'_ He thought.

"Which hurts more, Robin?" The mastermind asked, while pacing the room slowly, like a predator waiting for the right moment to go after his prey, "The fact that I won that fight or the fact that you know they don't care?"

Robin looked up at him. His mind refused to work and he didn't know why. Maybe he was just shaken up. He knew that he was weak at the moment. His chest shook as though it struggled to get oxygen into his system.

"Or maybe, it hurts that your home, that tower, is full of hypocrites," Slade said, enjoying watching Robin squirm at the thought.

Walking over to the drawer of a dresser, Slade pulled it open. Inside was the bright red tunic with Robin's symbol emblazened on the chest. Robin watched as Slade took it out. Slade chuckled, "Would they really care if they lost you, Robin? Of course, there would be the initial anger there, but they'd get over it. It's not like you're valuable to them anyway."

Robin fought to stay awake and keep himself finding solutions to use against Slade's statements, but the solutions were slowly refusing to come. Slade took the shirt and pulled out the knife from before. He brought it up to the small black and yellow "R".

"Tell me, is it really that important," The knife went through the fabric and Robin felt himself jump slightly at the site, "To you that you don't give up those ridiculous ideals that they impose upon you.."

Slade cut the "R" out and then cut through it with the sharp "S" that was his own, "To join me?"

The Boy Wonder watched as the shreds of fabric softly fluttered to the floor. Robin fought to keep himself from screaming in his mind. He felt dizzy, weak, and disoriented. Worse yet, he felt no reason to fight Slade's logic. Slade watched Robin gasp and let the inside turmoil be written on his face. He pulled out a bright silver metal "S" from his pocket.

"It wouldn't be as bad as you think. We're so much alike anyways, it would feel natural for you, " Slade continued, " Just say yes, Robin, that's all you have to say."

Robin felt himself slipping in his mind. _'Care, don't care, can't let ... Doesn't make... sense... No, they don't, why should I... Stop... No... no...'_

_'Yes?'_

-T-

Beast Boy found that it was extremely difficult to stay quiet as Raven spoke. It was eerie in the room sometimes and this was by far, on the list of one of those times.

"Acara, Demirk, Queziv," Raven said, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

Beast Boy looked out the window, wondering when she would finish. Raven, however, barely noticed time passing, as her attention was on the spell. She couldn't identify what was causing all of this stress at all, and it was honestly becoming annoying. Then she distinctly heard something in her head. It was a sob, someone crying. The sound got softer, and she sought after it again. Perhaps it would provide answers...?

-T-

Nightwing felt his vision dissipate for a second and then come back again, but as much as it hurt, he didn't want Star to know about this. Even through Nightwing's facade, Starfire could tell in the way that he spoke that something was troubling him more than Slade was, "What we need to do is handle this in a way that would..."

His body froze mid sentence and Starfire watched him closely as he had sounded as though he had more to say.

"Nightwing?" She hesitantly walked over to him, but as she did, a loud agonizing scream frightened her to the point that it made her heart stop.

At the same instant, Raven heard the sobbing being interrupted by a piercing yell and the sounds made her headache change from something simple to that of her head being split open by an ax.

"Ah!" Raven screamed and it alerted Beast Boy to her current discomfort. The telepath collapsed on her bed, holding her head tightly.

"Raven? What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked, panicked.

Raven gasped and held her head, willing for herself to be calm again and away from the noises. She groaned and growled at the sounds in her head. Beast Boy rushed over shaking her shoulders. Raven suddenly felt weak, but not because of the sounds going off in her head. Her hands fell to her sides and she suddenly started to feel numb.

"Cyborg!" Beast Boy yelled into his communicator.

"What?" Cyborg called back.

"Raven's, well, just get up here, Raven's sick or ill or something!" Beast Boy yelled.

"Alright, dude, I just was going to call you. I found the sub-pod; it was empty," Cyborg spoke into the communicator.

"What?" Beast Boy asked back, trying to focus on Raven and Cyborg.

"And close by, there were car tracks and a small path of blood leading from the tracks to the beach," Cyborg replied.

"Can this get any worse?" Beast Boy yelled in frustration.

Starfire watched as Nightwing fell to the ground groaning and screaming. She didn't know what was going on with him. An orange glow slowly began to emanate from him. Star brought her arm up to cover her eyes so that she wouldn't be blinded. Slowly, the light dissipated, but something was wrong. Nightwing was still crouched on the ground, but on his hands and knees as though still frozen.

"Nightwing?" Starfire said. She stepped closer, "Night...wing?"

Nightwing whipped around and Starfire found herself looking at what was indeed Nightwing or Robin (which ever one would wish to call him), but instead of the blue and black, his suit was now a frightening red and black while his mask was black with orange rims.

"Princess," He said, his tone dangerous, "Forgive me, but, my master would wish for me to take you captive."

Starfire took a step back, "And I must obey him."

Nightwing leaped up, his Escrima Sticks seemingly coming out of nowhere. Starfire flew up and back to dodge the staffs.

"Nightwing, I do not wish to fight you!" She yelled.

"That makes one of us," Nightwing said. That one sentence scared her half to death as she watched him leap up and into the fight. Starfire flew up and threw a couple starbolts, missing her target entirely. Nightwing jumped up swung at her which she dodged, but barely. Starfire silently thanked her parents for the training she had received from the Warlords of Okaara. A thought passed through her mind as she Nightwing smile menacingly,_ 'Slade, what have you done?'_

-T-

Slade held out the silver "S" out in Robin's reach. Robin looked at it and felt his shoulders shake. They didn't care. They just didn't. Where else could he go? Almost instantly, Robin felt a strong desire to be safe. He thought of every time he had ever felt safe. He remembered grabbing his parents' strong hands whenever they performed at Haly's. It made him choke to think about it. That safety was no longer there.

But then, he thought of one undeniable feeling of security. It was something that he had felt when he was very young, after his parents' death. It was that of a long, black cape billowing around his ten-year old self. One that belonged not to himself, but to Bruce. It was odd, but that cape was more than something that protected Batman from his enemies. It was a shield against the darkness and danger. One that would always surround Robin whenever he ran over to Bruce in attempts to get away from harm's way.

And every time Batman had seen that Robin didn't feel safe, he made sure that the current situation changed so that the Boy Wonder _did_ feel safe or at least more secure. If Bruce didn't care about him, then he wouldn't have done that. He did care. He did, he did, he did! And if he did, then the Titans by all means cared too.

_'No!'_

The realization allowed for a rush of adrenaline to surge through Robin's body. He was not going out that easily. Knocking Slade's hand away and kicking at the man's shins, Robin sprung up from the bed and ran out of the open door. At first his legs wobbled and wouldn't listen to him, but as he got farther and farther away, he was able to control himself.

_'The room, the AC must have contained a toxin or drug or something. That's why I couldn't think straight,'_ Robin realized as he ran.

-T-

Nightwing stood over Starfire who he had successfully dragged to the ground. Starfire shook her head and looked up at her opponent, "And I thought that you would put up a fight."

"Nightwing, don't!" Her plead was answered with a laugh.

Starfire's eyes widened as she saw Nightwing bring the sticks up and above her. He swung and she screamed. Inches before it hit her though, she heard the sticks' whip halt with a sudden movement. Opening her eyes, she saw him freeze again. But instead of pain, this time there was a look on his face that made him look as though he was going to pass out. And he did just that, falling to the side. A white glow lit up Nightwing's body as before and left just as quickly as it had started.

Star looked over to see the black and blue suit back. He wasn't moving really, but he was breathing. Starfire let out a sigh of relief that she didn't realize that she had been holding. The tower's excitement also receded simultaneously.

"Raven, come on, Raven, wake up! Come on!" Beast Boy said, gently, tapping her cheeks to wake her up.

Raven came to grips with where she was. The screams, the crying, it was gone. She felt her strength return seconds later. Her concentration was still off, but not nearly as off as it had been with the headache.

"Rae? Are you...?" Beast Boy asked again.

She sat up and nodded, "I'm fine. I think."

Cyborg ran into the room, "BB said you were in trouble, Raven?"

Raven's eyes narrowed, "Something's wrong. Seriously wrong. I... I heard someone crying... or sobbing, but it was interrupted by a scream. Then, I just... lost my strength..."

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at her, "Is it connected?"

"I don't think it is... exactly," Raven said slowly, "Come on, we need to get Starfire and talk in the main room."

As they walked out of Raven's room towards the doors to the main room, Robin continued down the seemingly endless hallways. He tried every door he passed, but none opened up to the outside world. Finally, he saw a bared window... and a door. He set off in a sprint.

_**CLANG!!! **_

A metal door came down over the door.

_**CLANG, CLANG!!! **_

Two covers took their places over the windows next to it. Robin skidded to a halt. He looked around frantically for another exit. Sadly, the only one in sight was the one behind him. And leaning on the side of the left wall of the exit was Slade.

"You can't break my defenses that easily, Apprentice. I wouldn't allow it," Slade walked calmly down the corridor, while Robin started to back away, "Now, why don't you come back to your room and stay there?"

"I'm not your apprentice, Slade!" Robin yelled, "And I certainly don't want to be!"

Slade chuckled making Robin feel uneasiness settle in his stomach, but he refused to pay attention to it. He said quietly, "Robin, you have so much to learn."

Slade walked right up to Robin, who backed into the cold metal that was concealing the doorway. Feeling the cold metal against his skin sent shivers down his spine, but his focus shifted from that to Slade in an instant. Slade grabbed his chin and tilted Robin's head up to look him directly in the eye.

"You can't run away from our similarities, Robin," Slade said and Robin heard the filter in his mask that had kept the drug out of his system while in the other room.

"I don't have to. I just have to remember the differences," Robin shot back.

Slade frowned underneath his mask. He lowered his hand down to Robin's throat and Robin instantly felt the lack of air as his windpipe was being crushed. He grabbed at Slade's wrists and fingers, but it did no good. His eyes were already playing tricks on him, but Slade wasn't going to stop there. He raised Robin slightly in the air so that Robin's toes just brushed the ground. Robin gasped for air. He could barely breathe and could feel himself slowly losing the feelings in his fingers and toes. Next would be his arms and legs

"Don't play a game you can't handle yet, Robin," Slade whispered, "I have more things playing to my advantage than you know."

He released his hold on Robin, who dropped to the floor and quickly grabbed his sore neck. Slade took the opportunity to seize Robin by the hair and drag him out of the dead end. Robin soon got to his feet and began to fight against Slade's hold, but it was too late as Slade had found his destination. Opening the door that lead to what served as Robin's room, Slade threw Robin to the ground inside.

Robin got up, but Slade closed the door before he could reach the knob, "Let me out!"

Slade leaned against the door, "I'll filter out the drug, Robin, you don't have to worry."

"You could sedate me all you want, Slade. I'll still be nothing more to you then a prisoner if that is what you want to subject me to," the Boy Wonder said.

Grabbing Robin by the throat again, Slade brought Robin up close so that his eye was directly in the teen's face, "You see so little, Robin."

Robin felt himself losing air more than the last time, but he refused to go out without a fight, "Yeah... so what? I have the potential... to be more, don't I? That's why... you want me... to be your apprentice... and I _know_ that. The look in your eye, when you see... that potential beating you will...be...priceless."

Slade's eye narrowed slightly and Robin fell unconscious. He dropped Robin onto the bed and walked out. The boy was a challenge. But challenges intrigued Slade all the more. When this was over, seeing Robin wearing that suit willingly would be the ultimate trophy.

-T-

Nightwing slowly shook his head and looked around. He saw Starfire standing over him, her hands together in worry. Standing up, he took a step over to her, but saw that she tensed.

"Starfire, I..." He was at a loss for words, "I'm sorry, I should have..."

"What. Happened?" She asked him, her tone laced with frustration, worry, and fear.

"I... that was, it never happened before. I had just been getting migraines," Nightwing started. He was still shocked at what happened himself, "Star, I'm not here because I went back to save the past. Slade brought me here."

"Why?"

"He was going to... use me, to see what he would have to do to make Robin become his apprentice for good. I escaped though," Nightwing said quietly, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to tell you everything. I don't even know how talking to you is going to alter the future. I didn't want to risk too much."

Starfire turned around for a second, biting her lip in thought and fighting back tears, and then turned to face him again, "So Robin..."

"I wouldn't have or well, Robin wouldn't give in that soon on normal circumstances, Slade's doing something, I just don't know what. The good thing is that I, er, Robin, must have snapped out of before it was too late," Nightwing finished.

Starfire nodded, but her brow was furrowed and Nightwing could tell something was bothering her, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"You," Starfire said, looking up at him her tears becoming painfully clear, "You were so... frightening. It was scary."

Nightwing's mouth opened in surprise. What could he say to that? What should he say to that? Star shook her head.

"Slade, he just can not..."

"And he won't," Nightwing's and Starfire's gaze locked, "I promise. You need to go back to the Titans. Tell them you were informed that Slade has Robin, but don't tell them it was me. I don't think that's the best idea for right now. I still can't tell you everything, but you and the others have to find Slade and confront him. You also have to find some technology of Warp's that Slade has in his possession."

"How can we do that? We don't know where he is..."

"You'll find him, trust me. And you know Warp's tech, you'll recognize it," Nightwing told her, "The future _will_ be as it should be. I promise. Do you believe me?"

Starfire nodded slightly, "Yes, but what about you?"

Nightwing looked out at the city and sighed, "I... don't think I can confront Slade because it might alter the time line, I'll help in a different way, but I can't confront him."

"But, Nightwing..." Starfire began, but stopped as she saw Nightwing pulling something out of his pocket. He held out his hand and slowly opened it. In his palm, Starfire saw a small weapon. It was like Robin's birdarangs, but still different.

"Here," Nightwing said and gave it to her, "Keep it. It will help. I can't tell you how, but it will."

"What is it?"

"It's a..." Nightwing stopped realizing she might laugh at this, "It's a Wing Ding."

"A Wing Ding?" Starfire asked, her tears receded now.

"Yeah," Nightwing replied.

Starfire held the little thing tightly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," He answered.

Nightwing backed away from Starfire. She looked over at him and saw him walk off to the side of the building. She watched him as he fell backwards off the roof. Flying over to the edge, she didn't see him, but she did see a grapple line blowing in the wind. Despite the news of Slade's involvement in this and the disturbing fight that had just happened, Starfire found herself smiling slightly. Nightwing was... well, he was still _her_ Robin.

"Starfire, we need you back at the tower, ASAP," Cyborg spoke into the communicator.

"Alright, friend Cyborg," Starfire replied, and she flew off towards Titans Island.

Nightwing leaned against a building. His plan was set into motion. He just had to hope that Robin would hold out long enough and that Slade's attempts wouldn't work. Quickly, Nightwing changed into his normal clothes. Richard looked around the corner were he saw a line of sleek motorcycles lined up in a couple parking spaces. A man came out and was about to hop on, when he saw Richard walk up to him.

"I'll give you three fifty for it," He said.

The man looked at him and then smiled, "Done. The thing's trash anyway."

Richard took no note of it. Hopping on, he started the ignition. The engine rumbled and he felt the machine come to life. He wasn't going to let Slade win this. Riding down the streets, Richard came to an exit for the highway. Making a sharp turn, Nightwing rode into the night and out of Jump, ready to ride for the rest of the night. It was going to be a long ride.

-T-

**A/N:** Well, how many of you are in shock at what just happened or on the edge of your seat? Please Review! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Oh, I did want to mention a thing or two. The deal with Raven and Beast Boy. When I wrote it, I wrote it so readers could see the two as either good friends or a couple. I don't care which you choose since it's not really relevant to the plot of this story.

Also, some of you might be wondering why I had Nightwing's costume change from blue to red and not orange. That idea I got from the Nightwing Comic story line "Renegade" with Deathstroke and Ravager. The only thing I changed about that costume design was how his mask appeared, since I figured that there had to be _some_ orange in his costume. I don't know when the next update will be, but hopefully soon! Later!

Rena


	11. Chapter 11: Planning and Scheming

**Disclaimer:** Are you as tired of these as I am? (If you say no, I'm really surprised.) Ok, then let's get this over with so that you can get on with the story... I don't own Teen Titans or anything related to the DC Comic Universe. DC and WB do. Now stop pestering me about it!

**Author's Note:** Finally! Believe me when I say that I am so sorry that this chapter is this late. I swear that my internet hates me lately. But now it's up and I'm really happy about this. I have to say that I was really surprised with how this chapter came out. To make up for the lateness also, I'll try to get another chapter out sooner. The nice thing about this chapter is that it's a nice long and interesting read that I think you'll all enjoy. Now that I think of it, why don't I just let you read it instead of boring you with this author's note? May I present "Chapter Eleven:

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Eleven: Planing and Scheming**

Slade sat at his desk staring at the monitors. Since the incident with the skyscraper, he had seen no signs of Nightwing. He had a feeling that Nightwing would avoid him and the Titans. It didn't really bother him. What did bother him was that he had been unsuccessful thus far. If he had, Nightwing would have traveled back to the haunt ready to return to the future. It didn't bother him painfully, but it was obvious that Robin still had too much hope of escape for his liking.

That would have to be eliminated.

Slade allowed for himself to scan ideas of how to accomplish this. Rapidly, he saw the faults and advantages in each. Then one came to mind that worked. For Slade, sometimes it was nice to be a mastermind at criminality. Smiling, Slade began to work on a plan that would make Robin become his apprentice, no matter what. Time was ticking away and, while they didn't know it, there was only so much time that the Titans had before they could no longer do anything to prevent a doomed fate.

-T-

Starfire rushed back into the Tower and found all of the Titans in the main room. Raven held her head and was muttering something under her breath. Cyborg was pulling up diagrams of the city while Beast Boy was searching through the cabinets of the kitchen for painkiller ("Come on! We can't possibly have run out of it already!") Starfire went to the couch and looked from Cyborg to Raven and back to Cyborg again. At this point, Raven seemed to take note of Starfire.

"Good, you're here." Raven stated.

"Um, yes, what is the reason for your urgency?" Star asked.

Beast Boy came over with the painkillers and a glass of water, which Raven took gratefully. Swallowing the painkillers, she got up and went to the side.

"Cyborg found the pod," Raven stated, "But with blood, and tire tracks, not Robin."

Starfire held her tongue. Everything seemed to be conferred about what Nightwing had said.

"I was meditating and I thought I heard someone crying, and then the noise was interrupted by a scream," Raven continued, "But somewhere shortly after the interruption, I felt my strength leave me."

Raven sighed and looked out the window, "They felt different, but I think they're connected because of the timing."

"So, what was each one?" Beast Boy asked after the moment of silence.

Raven seemed to contemplate over what she was about to say, "With Robin missing, I can only guess that it was him who was screaming or crying... or both. That mind bond of ours, I can sometimes pick up things here and there, but only if the emotion... or pain is strong enough."

The others were quiet for a minute. Star had sat down to keep from saying anything. Finally Cyborg asked, "Then what was the other thing? That strength loss or whatever?"

Raven continued to look at the ground, "I can't tell, I think that... With my powers, I can sense certain things in nature, I can control some things physically. You know that. You know that, for example, on my birthday, I stopped time. Time is something I can sometimes sense. I don't know where it came from, but I think that it was a warning. Every bad feeling I get is. I don't see why this would be any different."

The other three friends listened quietly. They each knew what Raven was trying to tell them. Wherever Robin was, whatever was happening where he was, it was by no means good. Starfire held the Wing Ding in her hand, not saying a word. The others hadn't noticed the little gift yet. But they would.

Cyborg watched as they took in everything. Beast Boy looked pale. Raven gave no sign of disturbance. _'Her's had come and gone during that spasm or whatever,'_ He thought. The only thing out of the ordinary to him was that by now, the silence would have been broken by an enraged, distraught, or worried Tamaranean. Watching the alien princess, he knew something was bothering her or keeping her from saying anything.

"Hey, Star," he said.

"Hm?" Starfire's attention was diverted from her thoughts.

"You okay?" Cyborg inquired.

Starfire got up and paced the room quickly, but then answered, "I should have said something on my way back."

"What?" Beast Boy asked.

"I... when I was out flying, I saw, I had a visitor." she said.

"Who?" Raven asked.

"He asked me to say nothing of who he was," Starfire said, but quickly added, "But he was no enemy of ours. He said that, Robin was in trouble and that everything has been a set up of some sort."

"Whose set up?" Cyborg asked.

Starfire bit her lip, "Slade's."

The Titans' eyes widened and Beast Boy spoke what everyone was thinking, "Well, no duh, we couldn't find Rob."

"That sneaky little..." Cyborg started the list of insults.

"What did the visitor say about him, Starfire?" Raven finished, before the insults could become a rant.

"Friends, the visitor said that they would offer assistance if they could, but they said that they couldn't say much of what their plans were." Starfire revealed, "But they gave me this."

She held out the Wing Ding and the others looked at it. Cyborg picked it up and started to examine it, "Looks like one of Rob's Birdarangs in design."

"I don't know what it is, but they told me to keep it and that we had to find Slade," Starfire lied and told the others.

"Well, how are we going to do that, we don't even know where he could be," Beast Boy asked, clearly bringing up the faults already in this seemingly half-baked plan.

"I do not know, but please, you must trust me when I tell you that the visitor is one we can rely on," Starfire said.

"Yeah, is he going to fight Slade with us?" Beast Boy asked.

"I..." Starfire began, unsure as to how to answer. But she was interrupted by the sound of a hiss of compartments becoming undone.

The Titans looked over at the Wing Ding in Cy's hand and watched as it opened up to display a color screen that showed the layout of Jump City.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "did you know it could do that?"

Starfire shook her head and then suddenly a beep alerted them to the map and a small flashing dot appeared on the map. The dot became clear and it was evident when it displayed a tiny jagged 'S'. All four of the Titans smiled.

"Cool," Raven said and the four began to discuss what to do next with the much appreciated new information.

While the four friends smiled, Nightwing allowed for a small smile to slip as well. He had stopped by the side of the road to fix up the 'Trash' that he had bought. It had been going at 40 mph. Now it was doing a good 90. He wove in and out of the cars on the highway. He had some ways to go, but if he pushed it, he could be there within a couple hours.

He allowed his thoughts to wander to the present. That had been a close one. A really close one, he could only hope that Robin wouldn't give in. He wanted everything to work out. He wanted to be able to go to work the next day and come home to just spend the evening with Kori. He missed her. At least he had seen her now, or in this time.

He remembered thinking the first time that he thought that he might even like her what Bruce would have said. In short it would have been, _'Get your head back on and forget about it. It's an unaffordable weakness,'_ but with much more explanation and worded in Bruce's style of arguing a.k.a. 'you couldn't win'.

Time passed through the night. His thoughts drifted farther back in time. It left Jump and went back to Gotham. He thought of the Manor, the sights that he had known since he was little. Everything, the sights, the smells, the views... He had three favorites: On top of Wayne Tower, his bedroom window at the Manor, and the one that he had first seen when he was traveling with Haly's Circus.

Slowly, words came back to his head, songs from a long time ago. They were ones that his parents had taught him, most from his father's side of the family. It calmed him down a little, enough to make him be able to concentrate on driving instead of the task ahead. The night went on. He rode for most of the night, refusing to stop or to allow his eyes to sag. Luckily, his headache was one that he could ignore after awhile. Soon he saw the sun's light making it's way above the surface of the ground. It wanted to rise, it just wanted to.

Nightwing road the old bike over the hill and the sun was finally seen, even though it barely peeked over the horizon. With it came a whole city, waking up from an ugly night. The sad thing was that they were almost all ready to ignore whatever had occurred the night before. Nightwing didn't think about that. He just thought about how stunningly majestic it was, being able to weather storms like that. However, Gotham had help... and that help was something Nightwing needed right now.

-T-

The only thing that Robin saw was a blocked exit. He had woken up at what he guessed was probably a couple hours after losing consciousness. There was really nothing to do. He basically sat by the side of the bed and did much of nothing. After a while, he began to look around to see if he could find anything to do. While he doubted that he could find any, he began to search for cameras or microphones that Slade had probable hidden throughout the room. As he walked over to the end of the room, he felt fabric at his bare feet. He glanced over at the torn up pieces of fabric.

He kneeled down and picked the two pieces of his symbol up. He looked at them for a moment. He didn't want to stitch it up; it would leave the reminders. But he didn't want to get rid of it either. He remembered the wonderful feeling that he had first had when he had worn it. Alfred always sworn that when he had first put on that uniform, his face had lit up with a light that he hadn't seen since his performances on the high wires. The whole feeling that came with wearing that uniform had made him feel alive.

Again, he looked at the torn up symbol. He clenched together the shreds in his hand. Whatever he did with it, he wouldn't to just leave it behind. If things got worse, he'd need it to remind himself of who he was. Almost instantly after the thought, Slade opened the door and Robin whipped around and stood up to face him.

"Good to see you awake," Slade said, calmly stepping into the room.

"You knew I was awake, so don't act like it's a surprise," Robin shot back.

Slade chuckled, "Amusing Robin, but we have no time for games right now, now, do we?"

Robin looked at Slade in confusion and suspicion. Something was wrong. Slade never said anything like that without a reason.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Robin asked, viciously.

"I don't think that's any tone to take with me, young man," Slade replied calmly.

Robin fumed at the comment as Slade continued, "You'll see soon enough, though."

"Stop with the mind games, Slade." Robin said.

"It's not a mind game, Robin. You know that." Slade said, "I'll be back in about thirty minutes or so. Get dressed in one of the uniforms in there. It's going to be cold where you're going."

"Slade, you can say whatever you want, but there's no way that you're going to get me into _that _uniform." Robin said coldly.

Slade had turned his back to Robin, making Robin wonder if Slade had even been paying attention to him. Slade had heard it, alright. There was no doubt in that, at least, not after what happened next. In an instant, Robin cried out and found himself on his side, with his face throbbing. He raised his head to look up at Slade who was cracking his knuckles after the punch.

"I said no games, Robin." he said sternly, as though his voice welded a leash that Robin was attached to, "I've been lenient with you lately. That advantage of yours isn't going to be there much longer."

Robin tried to make himself look up at Slade, disdainfully, but his head hurt and it was hard to concentrate on what he wanted to do instead of the pain. Slade grabbed Robin's wrist and ripped away the torn fabric of the symbol from his hand. Forcing Robin to the ground, Slade went over to the exit. Robin could feel his stomach drop as the door shut behind Slade with a deadening slam and lock. Whatever Slade had in mind, it was not going to be pretty.

-T-

After about an hours' worth of time into a heated debate as to what to do with this new found information, the four Titans finally came to the agreement that they should attack when they had every advantage that they could have. Cyborg had told them all to go to bed and wake up early.

He woke up earlier then the rest of the team and had gotten to work on devising a plan as to how to attack the most effectively. This really wasn't his job, but since Robin wasn't here, the duty shifted to him. At first, the process was slow, but he got used to it and soon had a basic idea as to what to do. He just hoped that it would work and that the others would be up for it.

Personally, Cy thought that the mysterious visitor of Star's could have also sent in a plan or something and not just Slade's location. But, whatever. He was guessing that they had their reasons. It wasn't long before all of the Titans woke up and were ready to hear this grand master plan.

_'Oh, it's a master plan alright.'_ Cyborg thought sarcastically to himself, _'A brilliant one at that.'_

"So, friend Cyborg, what have you decided upon?" Starfire asked.

"We'll drive out towards downtown, to avoid suspicion, then, Raven will teleport us from the car to Slade's Haunt," Cyborg began to explain, "Once we're in, we fight till we find Robin."

"Gee, that was genius up to the simple 'fight' part." Raven droned.

"Look, the fighting part is the technical part, and I'll tell you everything while in the T-Car, but why don't we leave now so that we can get ready to fight now?"

They all looked at the floor, but their gazes came up, determined and ready. They wanted their leader back and they were willing to face off with all of Slade's forces to get Robin back.

"Alright, Cy," Beast Boy said, smiling, "Whose turn is it to say it?"

Raven smirked and Cyborg laughed, "Titans, go!"

With that, they raced to the T-Car and got in. Starfire and Cyborg took the front seat, while Beast Boy and Raven got in the back. The engine roared and within seconds, the T-Car was speeding towards downtown Jump City.

-T-

Reving up the bike, Nightwing rode into the city and crossed the Airport Bridge into Uptown. A couple minutes later, he crossed over the North channel and exited the highway to go over the Sallow Bridge. It was calm then, not many cars went out of the city. Nightwing stopped for a second and looked up to see over the trees, a large old mansion; a mansion who's history reached as far back as the Civil War and even before.

Wayne Manor.

He cast a glance back at Gotham. He'd come this far, he might as well go through with this. Instead of turning to head up the path (since a masked superhero riding up to see Wayne would be suspicious), he turned and road into the woods, his eyes scanning for the back entrance.

There.

Hopping off of the bike, Nightwing parked it in the shadows. Quietly, Nightwing carefully made his way around. Pulling out a grapple line, he shot it at the side of the cliff nearby. Holding on tightly, he took the swing and headed straight for the side of the cliff. Anyone would have said that he was crazy, but not just anyone knew where there was a holographic side of a cliff that was designed to conceal an entrance to the legendary Batcave.

As soon as Nightwing passed through the holographic wall, he landed with ease inside the same old, damp and dreary cave. Taking a deep breath, he walked inside. Walking towards the main frame, he realized that it wasn't the same old Batcave. Or rather it was, but not the one he was used to. The new one that was in his time was the result of an earthquake and a need to redo the secret lair after it's destruction.

This was the old one. It was the one where he would have jumped into the Batmobile with a pun as the Dynamic Duo would set out for the night. It was the one where he had first put on the brightly colored uniform. It was the one he had discovered after moving into Wayne Manor. It was the one where he had sworn to protect others. Once he reached the main frame of the computer he looked at it, trying to remember the codes. He just needed to...

In an instant, Nightwing felt himself being thrust to the ground, arms held tightly behind his back by one arm. He looked up and looked into the cold eyes of the legend of Gotham City.

"You answer my questions or I can promise you that I'll make your life a living nightmare, understand?" the cold voice hissed from behind.

"I thought I'd have to." Nightwing responded calmly.

"How did you get in here?"

"The holographic wall," Nightwing said and, still uncomfortable, added, "Bruce, ugh, can you let me go?"

"How did you get your information?" Batman answered.

"From you," Nightwing answered.

Batman let him go for a second and allowed Nightwing to stand up, "Who are you?"

Nightwing sighed. He knew that this was going to be hard, but he hadn't thought that it would be this hard. He hadn't talked to Bruce in so long. It was so hard to face him, even if the man didn't know about anything that had happened in the future as of yet. There was something about Bruce that made anyone a little intimidated when it came to talking to him.

He wasn't scared of Batman, though. It was just that all of his life, he had tried to gain the approval of this man. This one man that had given him everything. Even family. He wished by all means that Batman wouldn't look at him like that, as though accusing him of a crime already. It would make everything so much easier.

"My name is Richard," Nightwing said calmly, and he pulled off his mask, "Richard John Grayson. I'm Robin, Dick, from the future."

Batman looked at Nightwing for a moment. Then he held out his hand. Knowing what he wanted, Richard pulled off a strand of his hair and handed it to the Dark Knight who put it under a DNA machine for analysis.

"I need your help." Nightwing cut in.

"With what?" Batman said, coldly, as always.

"I was yanked out of my time by a man, named Slade, who's attempting to ruin the future." Nightwing told him, "I don't know what the long term effects for everyone would be, but... I can take a good guess that it would not be for the better."

"Why did he bring you to our present?"

"He's attempting to gauge, I guess, how successful he is."

"With what?" Batman turned to Richard finally; the DNA test positive.

But Richard could tell that there was still distrust in those eyes. "He's taken my younger self captive and is attempting to make him work for him. I've already felt the effects. Any doubt of Robin's affects me."

Batman turned away and began walking towards the stairs. Honestly, if this was his ward's future self, there was no doubt in his mind that he could trust him. But, the thing was, this Nightwing was claiming that he was foreign to this time. Richard was losing this battle. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. Everything depended on this.

"Bruce, wait." he pleaded.

Batman turned back to look at Nightwing, a sign telling Nightwing this was his last chance to convince him to help him. There were so many possibilities that he was about to do something wrong if he trusted this man. But he was willing to listen. Nightwing was trying to warn him of a danger, a danger that apparently needed attention. One chance, it was all most anyone would ever be given.

Nightwing continued, "Look, I know that you don't trust me. You don't fully trust Superman for crying out loud, but please, the future depends on this. I can't fight him because I don't remember seeing myself when I was younger; I'd alter time far more than it already might have been altered."

"So what are you asking of me then, _Richard_," Batman growled, telling Nightwing that if he was lying about this, he'd be sorry.

Nightwing sighed and looked up at Batman, "I need you to fight for me. I need your help, where I can't be."

There was silence in the cave except for the sound of bats flying around and calling to each other. The water dripped down the sides of the cave and from stalactites above. The two looked at each other. Batman from above on the steps, Nightwing below looking up at his partner.

The two stood looking at each other with dignity, respect, and loyalty. Yet, it was a rare moment where a person could tell that it wasn't just Batman and Nightwing who wore the masks, but also Bruce and Richard. Partners, family, father and son. At one point in time, grief had brought them together to fight for a common purpose. They weren't bound by blood, but by a common bond of wanting to fight for truth and justice; to make sure no one had to suffer the pain they had once suffered. Batman's eyes narrowed and he looked off to the side, then back again at Nightwing.

"What was his name again?" Batman asked.

"Slade," Nightwing said, smiling.

-T-

**A/N:** So, did you like it? I know the last part with the Titans is sort of brief, but it's like that for a reason. I can't tell you what exactly they're going to do yet, now, can I? That would ruin everything. The pace of things is picking up, now. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Be back hopefully soon! Later!

Rena


	12. Chapter 12: To Consent?

**Disclaimer:** Please tell me, is it the comics on my shelves that make you think that I own Teen Titans? I know that I own a lot of comics, but it doesn't mean that I own the characters or anything DC Comic related. So by all means, I don't own them.

**Author's Note:** Well, I'm sorry that this is so late. You wouldn't believe how little time I've had. I'm finishing this currently in the dead of night while realizing that tomorrow I'm going to be totally out of it. Well, who can guess what's going on in this chapter? I'll tell you now, this is where I've started to let all of my senses of irony loose to play and frolic and skip around in the story. There will be even more in the next chapter, but this is where they get their warm up. One more thing, for anyone who's every reviewed me anonymously for just about anything, I have Anonymous Review Replies now posted on my Putfile homepage. Those will be up for about a month. Also, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who's been reading and/or reviewing this story so far. But now, without further delay, may I present, "Chapter Twelve: To Consent?"

-T-

Regular: Currently happening

_Italics_: Flashback

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Twelve: To Consent?**

Jump City's mornings were normally quiet. Drivers were pleasant in the morning to others on the road. There were sometimes even runners out on an early morning jog. Later on would come the hustle and bustle. So when the T-Car spend out of nowhere down the road, more than a few people woke up startled.

While Cyborg drove the four teens downtown in a way that made him look like a maniac driver, he still had complete control of the T-Car and was doing that intentionally. As they drove, he explained further about the fight pattern that they would take. While it was hard to understand him at first, they soon got down what he told them. Now all that was left to do was wait until they arrived at the restaurant.

"Dude, if you want Slade to think that we're going out for breakfast, try to make it look like we're not going to puke first!" Beast Boy yelled, looking greener then normal.

"Beast Boy, if you mess this up, we might as well just order something when we get there," Cyborg called back.

Beast Boy didn't reply as he was afraid that he would hurl if he dared to open his mouth.

"We're almost there, so do we all know what to do?" Cyborg asked everyone.

"Yeah, you asked us that at least a dozen times by now," Raven answered.

Cyborg seethed for a second, but continued to drive. Soon they got to _"!Desayuno es Numero Uno!"_. It was something that Beast Boy and Cyborg had discovered one day while searching for a restaurant that served both meat and vegan meals for breakfast. When the four got out, they all acted as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. Well, actually, almost all of them acted normal. Cyborg was too busy making sure that everyone else acted normal to allow himself to act normal. But it was good enough to let Slade pass over it, who was watching via hidden cameras.

-T-

Robin had taken one look at the uniform and had decided not to wear it. Never again. Never. If he could avoid it, he would. So by all means, Robin was ready to argue with Slade when he came in to get him. It wasn't exactly an argument that followed however... not exactly anyway. Robin was sitting against the wall when the door opened and Slade stood in the doorway. Behind the man were two Slade-bots.

"Get up," Slade said.

Robin sat down staring at him and above a whisper, sarcastically said, "Are you going to yell now or later?"

"You decided not to, you'll get what you deserve," Slade replied, as the two Slade-bots came in, "Now I believe that I told you to get up... Or do I have to make you?"

Robin kept glaring up at Slade, but got up because he would not allow Slade to humiliate him by making him stand against his will. The two Slade-bots came up behind the Boy Wonder and held his arms behind his back. The four walked out the door and down the long hall ways. It was quiet for a while but as usually, one of the two ended it.

"So what do you have in mind this time?" Robin asked.

Slade smiled at the comment, "There are one too many distractions here in Jump, Robin. I plan to eliminate them."

They reached the main room and as usual, the large monitors glared back at the room's occupants. At the moment, a view of Jump City was on the screens. They stopped in the center of the room. At the mention of 'Distractions', Robin immediately began to panic. Distractions equaled Titans. Add that to 'eliminate' and instantly, Robin felt his stomach drop, hoping by all means that Slade didn't have something on them. But as he looked up at the view of Jump City, nothing changed. In fact, Titans Tower wasn't even visible in the picture. So what did that...

"Jump is too busy and too invested with heroes to teach you anything," Slade continued, "We're leaving to go to a place that won't cause such trouble."

"Leave?" Robin asked, half grateful that the Titans' lives weren't in danger, half afraid of the answer he was about to receive.

"We're going to a developing city," Slade said, "I'm sure you might have heard of it..."

The screens changed to show a picture of a different city. It didn't look like it was developing at all, actually; more like getting ready to rot. Smoke covered the sky and held the faint tinge that made people know just how polluted it really was. There was still old snow on the ground and it was dirty from oil, mud, and pollution.

"It's called Bludhaven," Slade continued, smirking, "And honestly, it's all a criminal could ask for."

Robin felt fear rising up in his chest. Bludhaven? Bludhaven?!? No one ever went to Bludhaven. Not any hero did anyway... Or anyone who didn't want to risk getting mugged on a daily basis. There was no defender. There just wasn't. That meant more danger than one would ever care to admit. And it also meant that it was the perfect place to hide... Or hide _someone_. Even if word got out about him being in Bludhaven, a hero wouldn't hear of it for at least a month, which was plenty of time to up and leave.

"Bludhaven?" Robin managed.

"So you've heard of it?" Slade answered, "Good. Meet your new home. We'll be leaving in a couple minutes."

"Slade, you can't be serious!" Robin yelled.

"I'm quite serious, Robin. Bludhaven will be a perfect place to train you," Slade replied.

Indeed it would be the perfect place to train. There was no hope in Bludhaven. Even the weather seemed to agree. While many enjoyed the fresh spring weather that Jump City was currently experiencing, Bludhaven still clung to winter with a strong grip. There was no hero there defending the innocent. None.

Instead, there was filth, corruption, and countless criminals. It was the perfect place to stomp out any flame of hope or twist up any moral ideals. In short, if no one found him, Robin would either be doomed to being captive or becoming Slade's apprentice. Already, Robin was starting to feel that hope slip away at the thought of Bludhaven, while Slade began to enjoy the very thought of it.

Robin looked at the floor and shook his head. Growling, Robin attempted to free himself from the hold of the two robots. Sensing this, the robots took the necessary measures to successfully keep hold of the teen. Slade watched on and when Robin finally stumbled to his knees at the hands of the robots, Slade walked over, enjoying this reaction out of his apprentice. Robin looked up at Slade with a face saying, _'You can't do this.'_ The trouble with that is that Slade is gifted when it comes to reading peoples' thoughts. The man knelt down for a moment while keeping eye contact with Robin.

"Oh, yes I can do this, Apprentice. Don't trick yourself into believing a lie," Slade stated calmly, coolly.

With that, Slade got up and went over to the monitors to wait for their ride. Robin looked down at the floor. He felt himself fighting back the urge to panic. There was nothing, nothing that he could do. He knew very well that his last good chances of escape may very well be slipping away. He had to do something because chances were that no one even knew where he was.

_'Just think, it's not impossible. It's not impossible. Have to hope...'_ Robin thought to himself.

It was odd. He knew that he had been a source of light and hope to many people, but he never realized how much he depended on himself for such hope when no one else could or _would_ supply it.

_'Have to hope...'_ But hope was slowly dwindling away.

-T-

Nightwing stumbled and fell on his knees, but steadied himself enough to stand back up. His head was screaming for a rest right now. Anything. Just anything would help. But despite this, he completely ignored the pain in his head. He knew Slade was up to something. He knew that his younger self was in trouble. The migraine and obscured vision were obvious signs of it.

"Nightwing? Are the migraines getting worse?" He heard Batman ask him.

_'Too bad these migraines don't come with fully explained reasons,'_ He thought bitterly.

Nightwing ground his teeth. There was too much riding on this. Too much. And he wasn't about to let it all go to waste. He looked up at the screen.

"Yeah, I'm okay," He responded.

-T-

Once inside the restaurant, the four looked around to see if anyone was there other then the waitresses and waiters. A few people were there, but not too many. Heading to the back, the group found an empty area away from the windows.

"Everybody ready?" Cyborg asked and everyone nodded.

He nodded to Raven, who put her hood on and opened her cape, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

In an instant, black energy surrounded the group and they could feel the cold engulf them. A second later, they found themselves inside a large old building. Most likely, it was a factory, an old and abandoned one at that. Raven shook her head after the transport. It always left her a little exhausted, but already she could feel something different. Something that seemed to radiate through the halls and pass through her, just barely letting her know it was there.

"He's here," She said softly.

"Alright, y'all know what to do," Cyborg said.

Quietly they walked down the halls. Beast Boy checked under every door and window, but found nothing. They might have been discrete in everything, but when they had arrived, Slade had seen it. Or rather, his cameras had seen it. As he had been waiting for the car to show up, Slade had noticed a red signal beeping frantically on and off. As the camera view appeared of the Titans, Slade's eye narrowed.

They shouldn't be here.

In a way that would not draw attention, Slade pressed a couple buttons on the monitor to alert the robots to come into action. Slade knew risks of having a battle rage in the building, but taking the risk of letting the Titans find them in this room on their own would have been worse since letting Robin know that the Titans were even there was also just a recipe for disobedience.

So let the battle rage.

He'd enjoy it.

-T-

Every hallway seemed to present the same problem. Perhaps a better word though for 'problem' would be 'question'. The question was: Is there anyone or anything waiting on the other side? Almost every answer to that seemed to be: No. So when the Titans turned the corner and saw an army of Slade-bots waiting for them in the room, they were a little caught off guard. Quickly the army jumped on top of the four teens attempting to crush them easily. They piled on top of the Titans so fast, it seemed as though it became a mountain.

But the Titans weren't off guard for that long.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

"Titans, Go!" Cyborg yelled as the group emerged from Raven's shield.

Raven was still not in the best of shape and after that counter-attack, she was suffering from a slight sensation of a dizzy spell. Starfire and Beast Boy stayed close by her while Cyborg began to fight through the annoying drones to try to clear a path way. They moved very slowly and Cyborg began to realize that this was not the best strategy. They were, in short, stuck.

"Raven, are you hanging in their okay?" Cyborg yelled.

"Sort of!" Raven yelled back.

"You need a break?" Starfire asked.

Raven looked at her for a second before continuing to fight off more robots, "How could I take one?"

"No problem!" Beast Boy hollered.

Instantly, Beast Boy morphed into an elephant. Raven groaned at this idea, but flew underneath it. Starfire and Cyborg covered the two Titans while Raven regained her strength. The robots however didn't decrease in number, they increased. The only good thing was that Raven was able to recover quickly once she was out of the battle for a minute. As the other three saw telepathic energy heading into battle, they rearranged themselves and began to fight offensively. They were doing okay, but at this rate, they weren't going to accomplish anything.

Starfire was the first to realize this and this was because her thoughts were centered on two goals. Finding Robin was the first objective, but finding what Nightwing had asked her for was the second. She bit her lip as she looked around the room. They had just had to move faster.

"Split up!" She yelled and flew off in the direction of a corridor.

Cyborg only saw her zip out as he called after her, "Star, wait!"

"What do you want to do, Cy?" Beast Boy called over during a change between a kangaroo to a tiger.

Cyborg realized that Star was right about one thing: if they stuck together for this fight, they'd lose, "Do what the girl says! Split Up!"

Instantly each of the Titans parted ways. Cyborg cut through the crowd with his sonic arm to the point of exhaustion. Beast Boy darted every which and way he could, changing animals in quick succession. Raven parted the crowd when she could and shielded herself if getting through was almost impossible.

Slade watched this and more. He looked over at Robin, who was still completely unaware of the intruders' presence. That ride by all means had better get here soon. It was late. Each of the Titans were headed in different directions. Beast Boy was getting closer to them while Raven and Cyborg looked as though they might meet up sometime soon again. Starfire was...

"I'll be back in a minute," Slade said quietly.

Robin looked up for a moment, thinking that he might be checking on the ride. Escape seemed to be slipping away with every step. He let his head drop again. There had to be something that he could do. There _just_ had to be. But as luck would have it, there seemed to be nothing.

Perhaps this notion just further depressed him. It was in Robin's nature to be hard on himself. It was at some points a gift, but during many other times, it was a curse on the Boy Wonder. Taught to always do it better, the idea was ingrained in his mind as a backdrop for many of the things that he did. To realize that he couldn't seem to do any better then what he was doing now hit him as a devastating blow.

_**Boom!**_

Robin looked up at the sound, shocked to see a door that had been blown to the side and in came a tired Beast Boy with a headache to match. Robin was dumbstruck for a second, surprised that the Titans had even found the place, let alone find him in it. But that feeling instantly dissolved after a moment.

Robin called out, "Beast Boy!"

The changeling looked up and seeing their leader, smiled, "Dude! What happened to you?"

Beast Boy leaped in as a lion instantly and began to run up to the robots holding Robin's arms, but he never got there. Even as he approached, Robin could see failure in the attempt. Slade would never let anything that was of value left unguarded from the Titans. And he didn't. A robot had emerged from the doorway from where Beast Boy had originally come through and it didn't hesitate to take out the shape-shifter.

"Beast Boy, don't!"

A green net emerged from a gun held by the robot and immersed the lion mid leap. The lion shifted into numerous animals, but the net seemed to shift in size along with whatever animal he transformed into. Finally, he returned to human form.

"Dude! What... Is... This...?" He asked between morphs until he finally came to a stop as a human.

"Are the others here?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, we split up to find you, but we each had a batch of these goons after us," Beast Boy answered.

_**Bam!**_

Both teens looked at the locked door on the other side of the room. Something didn't sound right. And it wasn't. On the other side of the door, Raven and Cyborg were fighting off the masses of electronic androids. The locked door presented a problem, but not for long.

"Raven, cover me!" Cyborg yelled.

Raven nodded and began to fight off Cyborg's opponents. Cyborg brought out his sonic blaster and aimed it at the lock on the door. The lock was dangling like a thread. _'One more time,'_ He thought. He aimed once more at the lock and it separated from the wall and door.

_**Bang!**_

He and Raven practically fell inside. Cyborg tripped and fell down, but saw Beast Boy and Robin instantly. He was about to get up when he suddenly felt the energy being drained out of him. A robot had taken the advantage and had sucked out his battery power within seconds through a long wire. Realizing this, he turned around and attempted to pull off the wire, but he didn't do it completely in time. He managed to get it off, but by that time, he was to drained to stand and he collapsed on the ground.

"Cyborg!" Raven yelled and flew over, but that was her mistake.

The telepath felt a dart prick her neck and she instantly felt woozy. It took less then seconds for her to fall down near her fallen comrades, dizzy and unable to conjure up any form of magic. Robin looked down at his fallen team; his last hope, it was practically gone.

"Guys, where's Star? You have to call her and tell her to--" Robin began, but was interrupted.

"Retreat?"

Robin looked over at the doorway that was still intact. A figure began to emerge from it and it was clear to Robin who it was.

"I believe that it's too late to do that now, Robin," Slade said, and as he emerged he held the last member of the team in his grasp, a knife at hand.

_-T-_

_Starfire flew down the hallways, eventually losing her pursuers. She entered every door she found and eventually came to one that was locked. With a yell, she burst through the door and found a very dark room, dimly lit with ghost-like light. It was creepy, but she had a feeling that it held what she was looking for was in here. _

_Looking around the room, Star carefully scanned each table and every object until a golden round object caught her eye. She walked over to it and picked it up. It was Warp's alright and was most certainly the object that they were looking for. Smiling, Star turned to go when she came face to face (or rather mask) with the criminal mastermind himself._

_"You know that you're trespassing, don't you?" Slade asked cunningly._

_She was not going to hear for it and instantly barraged the man with Starbolts. He dodged them instantly and with ease. As she stopped, she found that he had hidden in the shadows._

_"Where is Robin?" Starfire called out, "Where are you keeping him?"_

_"My dear," Slade's voice said, "I'd be more worried about myself than a leader if I were you."_

_He chuckled and Starfire got the feeling that she was in a very bad situation, "You know, there are many disadvantages of wandering into a lab. One being that your opponent may have many weapons at their disposal."_

_Star backed up towards the door. In less than a second, Star heard Slade dive behind her. She flew up and out of the way, but felt Slade grab her foot and swing her into the floor. Swinging a bo-staff at Star, Slade would have hit his target if she had not rolled away. She aimed a good well placed Starbolts at him, but he only got hit by two of them. Slade ran forward the staff ready to land a good blow, but Starfire dodged._

_What she didn't realize was that he had really been leading her away from the door and over to a couple of the tables. As she dodged, Slade jumped over the girl and landed behind her. The mastermind grabbed something off the table and Stafire instantly felt her hands and arms being cuffed behind her in a similar manner to how she had been by the Gordanians of the Vegan Star System. Only, this time, this time she felt suddenly drained._

_She turned around to look up into Slade's single eye, who took Warp's technology and put it on his belt, "You forget that weapons can also be traps, Titan."_

_A feeling of fury erupted in her and it angered her more that he continued on as though he was just being civil, "You release me or face my wrath!"_

_Still standing behind her, Slade laughed, "What wrath, child? You can't do anything right now. In fact..."_

_He pulled a knife and held near her chest and Starfire froze at the sight of it, "I think you'd better do as I say unless you want something worse to happen. Do you think you could walk with me to my main room?"_

_Starfire's fury was never one to contend with. But seeing as she couldn't do anything, instead of beating Slade to a bloody pulp, she let out a string of soft Tamaranien insults to the man. Slade smiled. The best leverage is always something one cares about most. He knew that Robin had probably met some of the Titans already since the signal in his belt had vibrated alerting him to a broken door in the main room. But still, this could still work to his advantage._

-T-

"As you can see," Slade continued, "They fall easily."

"Slade, don't!" Robin yelled.

"Why shouldn't I?" Slade calmly questioned back.

Robin looked at the ground realizing Slade was about to mock him, "I can see why you might not want me to Robin. She's such a pretty face, it would be a shame to have it a deathly pale... And believe me, the future will be somewhat better if they are alive."

"Robin, do not worry about us! Do not do what he says!"

"Slade, please," Robin said and mumbled something to the floor.

"I couldn't quite hear that, Robin. Could you repeat that?" Slade prompted.

"I'll go with you," Robin repeated, "I'll wear that uniform. I'll do what you say, Just don't hurt them, please."

No one could have known how much Slade was smiling under that mask, but he was. The mastermind dropped Starfire to the floor and walked over to the prize. Robin had not once looked up at Slade. Not once, to humiliated to look the winner in the eye. Slade grabbed Robin's chin and made the teen look at him.

"A wise choice, Apprentice," Slade said, while taking in the triumphant feeling of this win.

Robin continued to try to look away from Slade, but Slade wouldn't have it, "Look at me, Robin. It's really quite pathetic for an apprentice to not be able to look at his master."

Robin grudgingly obliged the man's request; silent, but obedient, "That's it. It's not that hard. Stop treating this like a punishment."

Robin shook his head for what he could at Slade, "You're not loyal yet, but you will be. Tell me, Robin, is it really as different as serving the bat?"

A whoosh of air was all that Slade heard before he felt his hand being knocked away from Robin and seethed from the pain in his hand. Both looked around for the source of the disturbance, but neither had to look around for long. Almost three seconds after, a figure dropped down from the top of the building, crouching as it landed, but quickly rose into an erect formidable foe. The long black cape stood still while the mask concealed everything but the jaw of the man.

All of the Titans were still awake enough to look at their visitor. Each as shocked as the next, they were mesmerized by this dangerous figure. Robin was just as shocked as the others. Slade looked on, not wide-eyed, but it was clear that he was surprised none the less. Of all things, this was one that Slade had not anticipated. Maybe Nightwing, but even that chance was slim. But him?

"Batman?" Beast Boy whispered, saying out loud what everyone else was thinking.

-T-

**A/N:** Alright? Who enjoyed it? Huh? I normally don't leave people off with cliffhangers in the middle of a fight, but I thought that it worked. I think you'll all enjoy the next chapter a lot too. I think that one might take somewhere between a week or two, but I'm not sure. Also, I wanted to explain Bludhaven's temperature. Just so it's clear, this time for the Titans takes place about mid-spring. Some cities, especially industrial cities, experience extremes in temperature depending on the local climate. So the reason why Jump and Bludhaven are different in temperature is because Bludhaven is experiencing extremely cold temperatures while Jump is shifting with the seasons fine. Anyways, I'm sort of booked on time next week, so we'll see how it goes. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please Review! Later!

Rena


	13. Chapter 13: Who I Am

**Disclaimer:** Excuse me, but I believe that I already have told you this. Is this like one of those fish things, you know, where you remember only the last three seconds of your life? If it is, well, sorry, that would bite and I'll say it once again: I Don't Own Teen Titans! There. You still remember that, right? I also don't own any quotes or anything of DC Comics.

**Author's Note:** Well, well, well. Looky here, I'm on a sugar high! Yeah! And I've got another chapter out! And I'm already planning on seeing Spider-Man 3! Yes! Things don't get too much better then this. Well, remember that irony thing I mentioned before, well, here's where you get to read them on full blast. I think it's a good chapter. Anyways, I'll let you get to reading this. Please enjoy: "Chapter Thirteen: Who I Am"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Thirteen: Who I Am**

Slade and the Titans all looked at the new arrival. Even Raven, who couldn't exactly see straight, could tell from the man's appearance that he was not someone to mess with and was here with one goal. Robin looked up, shocked at the fact that his former mentor was standing right between him and Slade.

Slade though, was not moving. In fact, the man stood his ground, barely intimidated by the large and muscular legend of Gotham. He was too close, way too close to give it all away just like that. Robin would be his apprentice and he wasn't about to let some flying rodent stop him from keeping it that way.

"Well, Batman," Slade said, beginning to pace the room slowly while Batman's masked eyes followed him, "Isn't this a surprise?"

"Let them go, Slade."

"Star," Cyborg whispered, "Is he your _'contact'?"_

Starfire looked up at Batman. Seeing his serious gaze, she automatically nodded in Cyborg's direction. Slade ignored them.

"This doesn't involve you, Batman," Slade calmly said, "Stay out of it."

"I'll make it involve me then, Slade," Batman replied, "Now let. Them. Go."

Slade chuckled, "Do you really think that I'm going to listen to you?"

"Do you really think that your ride is really going to get here any time soon?" Batman responded back and Slade raised an eyebrow, impressed, but not defeated.

"Clever, Batman, clever," Slade answered, "I can see why Robin admires you. But really, I have other methods of getting out of this city other than by car. I'm sure you do as well; how did you come in? Bat-wings or something along those lines?"

Batman turned to look at Slade with his eyes narrow and hard as Slade had crossed over to Batman's right.

"Besides, I'm this close to having _what I _**_want_**. Do you really think I would back down so easily?" Slade answered back.

"No, but that doesn't mean that you're going to win this, either." Batman told Slade harshly.

Slade smiled beneath the mask and began to approach Batman head on, something barely anyone had the guts to do. "Bring it on, Bats, bring it on."

The fight began in an instant. Slade threw the first punch, which Batman dodged swiftly and attempted to use in a counter-attack. But Slade saw that and moved out of the way of two oncoming Batarangs.

"Where'd you learn to fight?" Slade asked.

"None of your business," the Dark Knight responded.

Batman went into a somersault and landed a nice side-kick to Slade's stomach, but it barely fazed him. Instead, he grabbed the Dark Knight's foot and swung him in the opposite direction. Batman back-flipped when he landed and jumped back into the shadows. Slade did the same.

_"Impressive, Batman, really__."_ Slade said from the darkness.

_"Don't get so confident,__"_ Batman answered from the shadows.

All five Titans looked around the room. The voices of the fighters echoed. While most of them looked in the corners, Robin didn't, and instead looked in the shadows in between the pipes. Sure enough, when Batman came out, he came from the pipes. But when Slade emerged to enter the fight again, it was not from where Batman was heading for. Although, Batman seemed to know this, considering the grapple line that he shot Slade's way. The two ended up clashing in mid-air and landing hard on the ground, blocking and attempting to attack one another.

Batman threw a gas bomb and finally managed to throw a nasty punch at Slade, sending the criminal flying over to another closed doorway. As the gas dispersed he asked, "Still so confident?"

Slade only smiled, allowing for his eye to say everything, "You're only a man."

"And that makes a difference?"

Slade cocked a brow. He liked this man's comebacks. It made the fight all the more interesting. Both took up fighting stances once again and Batman ran in to deliver a swift blow with a couple Batarangs. Slade dodged the attack, but in the process allowed the lock on the door to shatter. Unfortunately, this door led to a staircase. Slade fell backwards while dodging another of Batman's attacks, but grabbed the cape in the process, bringing Batman down with him. As they fell, Slade landed a couple nasty blows to the Dark Knight until they ended up on the ground. The Titans tried to pay attention to what little they could of the fight, despite the fact that none of them could actually see through walls.

Robin snapped the others back into reality, "Beast Boy, try to roll over and move Star over to Cyborg. See if he can absorb the energy in that shackle! We're getting out of here. Raven, I know you can't do much, but try to push Cyborg's arm over so that it's facing these robots! I know all of you can do this, so do it!"

It was enough to get them willing to play the game again, though. The Titans began what Robin had told them to do, but very slowly. The net tangled easily, very easily, and Beast Boy had to continue changing shapes to get anywhere. Robin didn't pay attention, though. He listened for the two fighters on the floors below. He wasn't out of the game. The Titans AND Batman had come to help him fight. He wasn't going to just shift that weight all on them. He'd be more than glad to help share the load.

On the floor below, Slade and Batman began to get ready to fight again. Slade shook his head and stood up as Batman fought to regain his vision, "What angers you more, Batman? Seeing that Robin can be more than just your old side-kick; as something that could benefit the criminal community? Or is it the fact that someone has taken interest in training him other than yourself?"

Batman ran forward and then skidded, attempting to knock Slade off of his feet.

However, Slade jumped out of the way, "You know, for someone so dangerous..."

Batman flipped in midair and landed a kick on Slade's shoulder, who recovered and elbowed his opponent in the face.

"I would have expected..." Slade seemed to be trying the right words, "Someone more, I don't know, quick and rough, not as slick or..."

"You'd never believe how many fighting styles I know, Slade," Batman responded.

They continuously fought for about forty seconds more or so, neither winning nor losing. Finally, Slade got the better and landed a couple hard blows to Batman, causing the Dark Knight to fall to the ground. Slade looked down at the Bat, with superiority in his eye. Yet, something was bothering him. He looked up at the staircase where Robin and the others were, then back down at Batman.

"Somehow, I don't think the Joker will care if I do this," Slade said calmly as he leaned over.

With a swift yank, the cowl came off to reveal another mask. Slade's eye narrowed as he let the cowl fall back with the rest of cape, "So that was it."

Nightwing glared up at Slade as the mastermind continued, "Don't be so fluid next time."

Nightwing shook his head and only smiled.

-T-

_"He's dangerous. Don't let him mess with your head; it's a talent of his, a bit like Dr. Strange, but in a different manner..." Nightwing went on._

_They were in the changing room of the Batcave. After the initial awkwardness wore off, they began to talk more freely, or rather Nightwing did. Bruce was packing a belt with necessary__ tools for the fight ahead while Richard was repeatedly briefing him with the same information. It was starting to get annoying._ 'It's Richard,'_ He thought to himself, remembering how Robin used to __just never shut up sometimes._

_"... Slade tends to hit with his power being the brunt of the attack. He moves easily in battle, but if he gets too close, get ba..."_

"Richard!" _Bruce seethed._

_Nightwing instantly shut his mouth knowing that he was talking too much and listened to what the man had to say, "You're repeating yourself."_

_"Sorry."_

_Bruce grabbed a suit and then continued, "I understand why you might be nervous about_ _this. But this will come out a__ll right."_

_"Well, I know that you can handle anything that Slade throws at you," Nightwing said, "I just want to make sure that... you..."_

_Bruce held out the suit and Nightwing stopped talking._

_"This is your battle, Richard." He said, "I could fight Slade and help stop him. But at the end of the day, he'd be just as determined and willing to fight Robin and the other Titans again. I know that you, Nightwing, can't be there. But I assure you, it's Richard's fight, even if he's wearing a different uniform."_

_Nightwing was silent for a second and then dropped his head, "I can't wear that, Bruce."_

_"Yes, you can," Bruce told him, "I'm not telling you to be Batman. I'm telling you to impersonate him."_

_"But I can't impersonate him. I'm not you, Bruce." Nightwing responded._

_"I know that."_

_Nightwing looked at his mentor. He couldn't be Batman. But it was odd. When he and Batman had worked together while he was still Robin, he had thought more on having fun that night and bringing in the criminals. The idea of being Batman one day, well, he figured that he'd probably take it up. But that day seemed so distant because Bruce was Batman and there was no one who could do it better. _

_As he had gotten older, he had seen things get dirtier and dirtier. It was as though nothing was getting better and it was only getting worse. But maybe, it's because he was understanding the world more and more by the day. It didn't seem like it was black and white, even though he knew distinctly that it was even if he couldn't see it. _

_Batman, Bruce, he took the darkness and used it to his advantage. But Nightwing... Robin, his advantage was in his hope. It was his beacon of light and often his light was the only thing that kept their cause from seeming completely hopeless. He couldn't totally immerse himself in the advantage of darkness like Bruce could, not yet, anyway. He wasn't ready for that. He couldn't be Batman and honestly, right now, he didn't really want to. That's why he was Nightwing. It may not be Robin, but it was still someone who could hope and also honor those he loved and still loved. _

_"You came to Batman asking for his help. I'm telling you that you are more than capable of fighting this man yourself. You've impressed me, Richard; in the short amount of time I've seen you, you've impressed me. And I couldn't be more proud of the man that you've become."_

_Richard looked up at Bruce wondering if what he meant what he was saying. And sure enough, "Your parents would be proud, too."_

_Bruce walked over and handed Richard the black suit of Gotham's legend. The suit came into his hands and he felt amazement enter into him. Bruce turned to go, but stopped._

_"By the way, impersonators... they don't have to fool everyone. They only have to trick certain people. Maybe you can use that to your advantage," He said before quietly slipping out of the room._

_Nightwing watched as Bruce left the room. He looked down at the costume and slowly a smile came to his face._

'An advantage, huh?'

-T-

"I didn't expect it to last that long anyway," Nightwing replied.

Slade laughed, "What did the Bat do? Loan you his costume? Leave you to get beaten up by yourself?"

Nightwing kicked underneath Slade, who dodged it instantly and backed away, "Trying to evade your loss Slade, by talking?"

Slade smiled. Nightwing sprang up and began to fight Slade again. They often would tumble to the floor each delivering barrages of punches and kicks to their opponent. When on occasion, they separated and hid among the shadows, the room appeared to be empty until they both jumped back into the fight ready for another round. On one of these occasions, Nightwing jumped in and threw an ice pellet at the floor. As Slade landed, he felt himself instantly attempting to regain his balance. By the time he was able to, Nightwing was skating at him and delivered a solid punch to the face.

Slade was knocked to the ground as Nightwing stopped in front of him. Nightwing only had one warning for what would come next. It was that glint in Slade's eye that always let you know when there was danger ahead. In a matter of milli-seconds, Slade grabbed the long cape and was rolling off the side of the stairwell that they were currently on. Nightwing's eyes widened as he felt himself lose his balance and begin to tumble to the ground. A yank on the cape was enough and he soon found himself being thrown towards the ground.

The ground dented upon Nightwing's landing. Slade, however, landed on his feet, "You know Nightwing, that Bat has always dragged you down-- whether in reality or metaphorically."

Nightwing felt sore all over, his muscles tense. But as he attempted to get up, he answered, "He's... never, ugh... done that."

"Oh, please, Nightwing, don't try to fool yourself. Ever since you were young, he's over-shadowed you," Slade told him, "I'm only offering you a different option."

"To be over-shadowed by you? Ha! I choose to work with him." Nightwing responded, attempting to hit Slade in the gut.

"I choose to be his partner. I choose to be Robin," Nightwing continued, as he lashed out with a kick, "I choose all of that because he offered me the opportunity to help people. Nothing else matters but that."

Nightwing pulled the cowl back over his head and Slade ground his teeth. They both began to fight again. Nightwing fought swiftly, taking a couple hits, but none with the greatest amount of force. Slade was able to dodge most of what Nightwing threw at him, but landing a punch was a bit more difficult task. Finally, he was able to land a good kick to Nightwing's back, sending him flying into a mess of pipes. Nightwing was only barely able to see Slade for an instant before he realized the nasty blow he was probably going to take.

Seeing the side of the ledge they were on next to him, Nightwing quickly kicked at Slade's feet and pushed himself over the side. Slade fell right on after him. Each kept fighting in mid-air, ready to land the winning punch or kick on the other. Soon, they both landed... Slade a little more smoothly as he had seen the floor coming and had given Nightwing a good kick to the face to knock him off guard.

"And what about _that_ is so important?" Slade asked as he walked over. After tilting his head to get out a kink, he gave Nightwing a forceful kick to his stomach, "What is so important about those people? The people who think of you as property damage? The people who only see you as the good little boy scout that follows the Bat around? Huh? What drives you?"

Nightwing attempted to put his vision back into focus, but found it extremely difficult. Somehow though, his mind shifts back to something else...

_"Robin, you are never alone."_

_"And if Slade really does ever return, we'll be ready."_

_... Friends..._

_"Master Richard, always bear in mind that this is his crusade. It need not be your life, as well."_

_"I know, but somebody's gotta help him. Might as well be me."_

_... Alfred..._

_"Swear that you will fight against crime and corruption, and never swerve from the path of righteousness."_

_  
__"I swear it."_

_... Batman..._

"_There was a hero of sorts on my __**homeworld **__many centuries before my birth... he dreamt of **justice**. He dreamt of helping the __**weak**__... He used his talents and his skills to fight for those who couldn't fight for __**themselves**__."_

_... Superman..._

_Air rushed through his hair. And then, two strong hands grabbing his. It was the first time he ever experienced the feeling of flying. And they were there, teaching him. Smiling down as he looked up at them._

_... Mom... _

_... Dad..._

_Her eyes tear up, "Listen to me... We're your friends, Dick... Hear me! I love you! I love you!"_

_... Kory..._

_"...They're always there for me. They always catch me..."_

_The sound of snap and a rope dangles in his mind... a broken one... and pain._

Nightwing's eyes snapped open and he answers, "My family does, Slade, and my friends. They make me who I am. And you _do not_!"

-T-

"The first person I ever revealed my identity to was Dick Grayson. He was about the same age I was when my parents were killed. His parents – circus acrobats – had been murdered. And I... wanted to make a difference in his life... The way, if my parents had lived, they would have made a difference in mine... Through the years, I've debated whether it was fair of me to take him in. Train him. Give him another identity to hide behind. But, I've learned that Dick wasn't like me. He didn't come from a world of privilege. He was a performer. Gifted in that way. And while, at the time, the transition from Robin to Nightwing was... difficult for us both – it was a day I had long prepared myself for because... _Dick was born to be in the center ring._"

- Batman (Batman #618, 2003; written by Jeph Loeb)

-T-

**A/N:** Hahaha! Didn't see that one coming, did ya? Huh? Huh? But you know you liked it. I sort of left hints. Sort of. Most were in his fighting style. I got the idea from the Comic Book arc line "Batman: Prodigal". It's basically a story about when Batman got his back broken by Bane and Nightwing comes to Gotham to help the out-of-commissioned Batman. Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Later!

Rena

PS. If you want to know where the quotes came from; go to my homepage and scroll down to the part that tells you about this story. It will be there until the end of the story.


	14. Chapter 14: Fighting For A Life

**Disclaimer:** Well, how can I say it differently this time. Oh, I know. If I owned Teen Titans then not only would I be rich by now, but I'd also know what exactly Deathstroke has planned up his sleeve so that he can win in the current comics. And by the way, I sadly don't know that anyway. Pouts...

**Author's Note:** Hello again. I just want to get it out there: Spider-Man 3 rocked! Well now that I've said that, I guess it is fair to warn you now, this is the second to last chapter in the story. But hey, it's not the end of the world... I hope... Once this story is done, I'll publish a One-Shot here and there and be back with another multi-chapter story before you know it. You know I can't stay away from Fan Fiction forever, right? Good. In any case, I think you'll rather enjoy this chapter. So I'll stop talking once again and let you read this chapter. May I present "Chapter Fourteen: Fighting for a Life"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Fourteen: Fighting For a Life**

Almost... there.

"Star, are you almost there?" Cyborg asked.

"I think so," she answered.

Robin looked up at the robots holding him. He wondered why they hadn't attempted to stop them. Then again, they were probably meant to keep an eye on him and not the others. Well, he'd let them keep an eye on him... for now. Robin loosened his muscles and allowed for himself to go limp. It was time to do something he hadn't done in a long time. It was something a bit more... acrobatic. In a second, the robots found their heads smashed together and held onto by Robin who had bent his body in such a way that he managed to wrap his legs around their robotic heads in a head lock. Even then, he felt the robots fighting off the strain he had put on them.

"Cyborg, now!"

Starfire barely lifted the shackles and it reached the end of the cord that Cyborg had managed to shoot out that was connected to his head. Instantly, the power in the shackles went into Cyborg, whose sonic cannon fired directly at the robots' heads that had been holding Robin. Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin stood up, but just as they did an alarm went off and the room was instantly swarmed with Sladebots.

"Get the others free!"

Starfire and Cyborg rushed over, but when Starfire looked over to Robin, she saw him running past the robots and into the room that Slade and Batman had fallen into during their fight.

"Robin!"

But he wasn't listening. He wasn't going to let Batman fight Slade alone. Not against Slade. Not against his own enemy. As she went to go after him, she found that the robots covered the exit. Beast Boy was free and Raven was still in no good condition to fight. Right now, all they could do was to distract the Sladebots so they didn't decide to retarget the Dark Knight or Robin.

Robin jumped down a floor and saw no one there, but he could see damage. He could feel the cold metal under his feet as he ran down the staircases that seemed to not have been used. That probably wasn't a good thing. He jumped down the stairs quickly, looking for any signs of Batman or Slade. He saw traces and debris from the fight and even a patch of ice. It made him worry. He knew that they were both excellent fighters and somehow, that knowledge just didn't comfort him at all. A piece of cape there, some sort of metal dent here…they were fighting nasty. But it wasn't until he was on the ground level that he saw or rather, heard them.

"I see, well, it won't help you anyway now, though," Slade said, taking out a bo-staff, "And neither will that cowl."

Robin looked around the corner to find Slade standing over Batman, who was on the ground. As Slade raised the staff, Robin felt adrenaline rush through him and also... Anger. He ran. There was no way on earth that he was going to let Batman get injured because of him. It had happened one too many times before and it wasn't about to happen again.

"No!"

In less than half a second, he had successfully torn Slade away from Batman, but had also gotten himself thrown across the room. As he was thrown, Robin saw Slade turn to look at him and he could instantly see irritation and anger. If he hadn't been angry before, he was now. And he was.

"We'll see if _this_ attempt will go anywhere," he whispered as turned to 'Batman' for a second, before heading off in Robin's direction.

Robin stood up and was ready to fight again. As Slade ran at him, Robin slid on the ground behind Slade. He quickly kicked at Slade, but Slade dodged it. Batman still wasn't getting up and Robin guessed that it was from what he thought was probably a hard fall. But he didn't mind. He could fight Slade too. Slowly, the fight led up the steps. Robin headed upstairs first, going mostly on defensive.

"This is pathetic, Robin," Slade told him, as though he was lecturing the teen, "Do you really have to have other people fight your battles for you?"

"They're not fighting them for me," Robin answered, dodging a punch, "They're helping me fight."

"Some help." Slade responded, pulling off a kick, "They're not even here."

At the top of the steps, Robin tripped, but found himself back flipping to restabilize himself. Angry, Robin began to fight back with more force. He began to let loose with a barrage of easy hits, yet they were not the type to do much damage. But they did certainly put Slade behind as he had to guard so quickly. For a while, the Boy Wonder began to win. The price, though, was that he was using strength, but he didn't care.

And yet while Slade fought Robin, he caught himself thinking, _'Go on ahead, Apprentice, go ahead. Fight out of rage. Tire yourself. Besides, I'm in a mood for a challenge._'

As they fought, Robin didn't notice Slade's attitude shift. All he thought about were the others. The Titans and Batman had come in to help him and all Slade had done was hurt them. Even though he knew that the Titans were free, he still couldn't shake the images of them on the ground, defeated because they had come to free him. He couldn't quit remembering Slade holding Star as though he was going to stab her with that knife. And he couldn't stop remembering seeing Batman on the ground. Slade had hurt one too many people that he cared about and it was enough to make Robin furious.

At that point, Slade decided to take advantage of it. Robin dived behind Slade for a moment and flipped up into the air. Grabbing Slade by the neck, he attempted to put the larger man in a headlock... but that didn't exactly work. Slade rammed Robin against the wall, but still, the Boy Wonder held on, not willing to give up. Again, Slade rammed Robin against the wall. Then again, a third time. And that time, Robin let go and collapsed to the ground, his back sore and his arms in pain.

Slade rolled his shoulders and turned to face Robin, "Does it hurt, Robin?"

It hurt, yes. It did. But what hurt more was the fact that he was being defeated. Not now. Of all times. He couldn't fail, too. He couldn't let Slade win. Robin felt Slade kick him in the shoulder and he let out a soft groan, "Or does it hurt now?"

"You're not going to win," Robin whispered defiantly because really, it was the only thing he could think to say.

"Robin," Slade said, shaking his head. Slade knelt down and grabbed Robin's wrists, "I already have."

Robin twisted his wrists in attempts to get Slade to let go, but to no avail. "No!"

"Oh yes, we're going to go to Bludhaven. And don't you worry. No one will ever find you there. You'll grow up under my tutelage. And you'll never have to worry about those Titans or the Bat again," Slade's words dripped like a poisonous venom, as he kept a sharp hold of the teen's wrists. "I'll make sure of that."

Robin felt his breath that had caught up in his throat and he couldn't tear his eyes away from Slade's cold one. It was as though Slade was forcing him to feel a cold unwavering darkness. And yet, there was also an utter despise for the man that just refused to leave. If anything, it made it all harder. For the first time since Slade had captured him again, Robin knew what he was feeling.

He was feeling fear.

"You can't," he croaked.

"I think we've already established that I can, Robin," Slade said, as a parent would a misbehaving child.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Robin looked over to see Batman running over.

Strangely enough, with no strategy or style whatsoever, Batman threw a brutal kick at Slade and the two started to fight again. A kick here, a punch there, from what Robin could see it went by so fast, no one could tell what they were doing, anyway. What he could tell was that both men were enraged with one another. Batman seemed to seethe with every failed attack. Slade was frustrated with the fact that he even had to deal with the Dark Knight. Well, he was just going to have to deal with the Boy Wonder, too.

Robin got up and sprinted forward. Batman saw him coming and as though he read Robin's mind, he moved to the right while Robin moved to the left. Batman tossed a Batarang, which Robin caught easily. Both struck Slade on opposite sides. Batman crouched down and kicked at Slade, who dodged, but didn't notice when Robin struck him with the Batarang to the face. As Robin did so, Batman flipped over and got a good kick to Slade's arm.

Slade stumbled backwards. There was no way that he was going to go out like this. He eyed Batman and underneath the cowl Richard paled. They were tired. They were losing energy, but Slade was still fine, still untouched, still strong. It always made Nightwing question how that was possible, but at the end of his own assessments, he always realized that it didn't matter. But currently, to make matters worse, Slade had that glint in his eye, the glint that still sent shivers crawling down his spine. It always meant that Slade was ahead of the game and was ready to take an easy win.

Slade pulled out another staff and ran at the two. They ran forward in return, but they weren't ready for Slade's double hit. Swinging the staff, he hit Richard in the back and knocked Robin head long into a pipe, which sent a large amount of pain through Robin's back that was enough to keep him down and out of the fight. Slade turned around to Nightwing who was just getting up. Slade struck at Batman with a staff, who blocked it with two Batarangs. The two pushed at the other's weapon, landing their fight at a halt.

Slade spoke in menacing whisper so that Richard was the only one to hear it, "Are you tiring yet, _Nightwing_?"

"No."

"That's it, lie. It's something Robin will be doing a lot of later," Slade answered.

Nightwing looked up at Slade and through the grated mask, he could see him smiling as though this whole thing was some sort of game. "Not a chance."

Slade gave a forceful push against the Batarangs forcing Nightwing on the ground while dropping one Batarang and throwing the other to the side. Rolling out of the way, Richard got up and kicked the bo-staff out of Slade's grasp. Slade cracked his knuckles to prepare for a hand-to-hand combat fight.

Slade's moves were almost always fluid and then he would harden up while dodging or attacking. For Richard, it was... difficult. He knew that his younger self was watching him and he knew that Robin knew Bruce's fighting style. For some reason, Slade had neglected to mention to Robin that it was Nightwing underneath the cowl of Batman. The only explanation that Richard had for that was that Slade might have considered the knowledge a motivator for the Boy Wonder. So Nightwing's task was balancing his own fighting style with Bruce's in order to maintain a sense of authenticity.

Despite this, for a while they fought evenly. And Nightwing soon had a target: Warp's technology. It took seconds to grab the little round object, but he managed. However, that was all that Slade needed to get motivated into the fight. In a matter of minutes, Slade began to see Nightwing's pattern. _'Patterns are noticeable, Grayson,'_ Slade thought.

With that, as Nightwing made a switch from fluidity to a harsh attack, Slade dodged and landed a hard elbow into the protégé's ribs causing Nightwing to fall to the ground. Robin groaned and lifted his head up. He couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Slade looked like he was actually going to win this one. Grabbing the cape, Slade threw, from Robin's perspective, Batman into the nearest wall. Batman fell to his knees and Robin could see a trail of blood coming down from the Dark Knight's mouth.

Slade walked forward, confidant and, in Robin's opinion, arrogantly up to his opponent. Slade said calmly, "Robin will be my apprentice, _Batman_. The Dark Knight's protégé will soon be a crime lord's heir. And there's nothing you can do about it."

Robin felt his gut flip. No. No. No! He wouldn't let this happen. He couldn't. He didn't want his life to be controlled by Slade. Not now, not ever! He remembered the first time, the feelings of helplessness, despair, sorrow, and heartache. It was pain. It was the most painful time in his life. He didn't want to go through it again. Robin got to his knees when he felt something cold by his hand. Glancing down, Robin saw the Batarang and quietly picked it up.

"The place will be empty when you wake up," Slade said, in a way that wreaked of threats and danger, "I promise though, I'll make sure that _Robin_ grows up all right. And sooner or later, you'll feel that it was probably the best thing for him anyway."

_**Clang!**_

Slade backed up and held his hand up to his mask once again. Daring to look up, Robin saw his enemy's mask cracked and about to fall off. Slade seethed.

"I'm not going to let you win," Robin whispered, his voice controlled, but defiant.

_**Bang!**_

An explosion alerted the group to the fight above. It sent a shock wave through the floor. Nightwing took the opportunity to leap up from the ground. Reenergized, Nightwing landed a good solid punch to Slade's face. The mask's cracks connected, ready to fall off. Slade brought his hand up to keep the mask to his face.

They heard the Titans coming down, "Batman! Robin! We gotta get out of here!"

Nightwing glanced up and then looked over to see Slade gone. Robin watched him, but finally spoke, "It's not worth it now."

Though Nightwing agreed, he didn't voice it. He knew Slade's escape was always a guarantee in cases such as these. The two ran up the steps and up to the main floor. The others were waiting for them, a hole blown through the roof. The building was caving in quickly. Robin watched as Batman shot a grapple to the roof. Holding onto the cable as well, the duo shot to the roof.

They barely managed to jump to the roof top of another building when the Haunt collapsed. People who had woken up mere hours ago looked out their windows to see what was going on. The Titans watched as the dust continued to settle. Robin was the first to turn away. He sat down and looked down at his feet, which were bleeding since they had been bare and without protection. Starfire and Richard then noticed.

"Robin," Starfire knelt down next to Robin and gave him a tight hug, which he returned with a sigh, "your feet..."

"They'll heal," He replied with a small smile.

"Dude, are you okay?" Beast Boy asked, the others' attention now on their leader.

"Yeah, I am now," Robin answered, "How did you find me?"

"Star got a tip off," Cyborg answered.

Robin looked up at the Dark Knight expecting an explanation, who cleared his throat to make himself sound gruff, "I alerted Star, but the only reason I knew was because I had an anonymous tip off."

Robin nodded, knowing that Batman wouldn't go any farther into it than that. Tugging on the shorts he was wearing he asked, "So, um, you guys have been doing the laundry, right?"

As the team talked, Richard smiled and walked off to the side near the entrance to the rooftop building. He now remembered this. He remembered it! And that meant that time was as it should be. He looked out at the city line of Jump. For some reason, he could still sense the anger that radiated from Slade. He was still dangerous, still a threat, but at the same time, Nightwing had an odd feeling that he needn't worry about that.

"Why don't we all just go back to the Tower?" Raven asked.

"I can't think of anything that I'd like to do more," Robin replied with an obvious appreciation for freedom.

-T-

**A/N:** So, how was it? Please review! I know you are probably mad at me for the fact that this is almost over. But I already planned out the whole story before I started writing it and I found out that there's practically no way to avoid an ending. Sorry. But I really do hope that you enjoyed the chapter. I decided to make Slade as scary as he could be in this situation in this chapter. I'll be back with the next chapter soon. Later!

Rena


	15. Chapter 15: Our Choices

1**Disclaimer:** For the last time! I don't own Teen Titans! I own nothing. Nada. Zip. I only own a bunch of comics that have been stuffed on my shelf. Stop bothering me about it!

**Author's Note:** You know, I'm suddenly really, really sad. It's the last chapter. It's been fun, guys! I'll be posting a bunch of new One-Shots soon and then once those are done and out of the way, I'll have two NEW multi-chapter stories: "Flying" and "Sincerely Adeline". Those will probably be up really soon and I hope that you check those out. Thanks so much for joining me for this story! You readers are more awesome than you know! So may I present the final chapter of this story "Chapter Fifteen: Our Choices"!

-T-

**Could This Go Anywhere?**

**Chapter Fifteen: Our Choices**

Once the Titans got home, Raven helped Robin out with his swollen feet. Cyborg and Beast Boy tried to make conversation with Batman, but he seemed to be... uninterested in talking to much of anyone. After the first couple attempts to start a conversation about Gotham and, in Cyborg's case the Bat-Plane, they gave up. And even when they got back, he prefered to stay out of the lime-light.

As they waited for Raven to come out, Cyborg and Beast Boy talked while Starfire just waited quietly. Richard looked around, reminiscing a bit. It was kind of nice. Just to be back where he had been for most of his teenage life. He looked over at his friends. It just felt good. He had to repress the smile. His eyes found Starfire. As he walked over he heard Cyborg and Beast Boy talk.

"The guy's cold, man, at least Rob let me look at his R-Cycle," Cyborg said.

Beast Boy laughed, "Dude, come on, even I know not to mess with the Bat!"

"You okay?" Richard asked as he reached her.

"Yes, I... thank you for coming," Starfire said, as though she were a diplomat.

Richard smiled and Starfire's face raised to a look of questioning. It looked familiar...

"Do you want to join me on the roof?" he asked.

"Um, certainly." she said.

It made her nervous. She knew that Nightwing must have talked to Batman. She knew that. She knew that Robin must have told Batman about the Titans. She knew all of that. But she also knew that she was taking a walk with THE Batman. If there was ever a person that one would want to get on their good side with it would be him, especially if you were a friend of Robin's. They reached the roof without saying a word. The sun was high above them since it was around mid-noon.

Trying to make good casual conversation, Starfire commented, "That plane of yours is very impressive."

"Thanks, but it's not really mine," he whispered.

"What?"

Batman only smiled at her. Slowly, he raised his cowl a bit above so that she could see the mask underneath and the young and handsome face. So that was why that smile was familiar.

"Nightwing? How did you?"

"Asked for a favor, that's all," Nightwing told her.

"Did you plan to..."

"No, but it worked out," Nightwing said smiling.

"But Robin, I mean, your younger self, he'll want to see you, or I mean, the Batman," Starfire said flustered.

"Just tell him that Batman had to run." Nightwing told her.

"You're leaving now?"

Nightwing bent his head down, "I've got to go home. There are people waiting for me."

"Oh," Starfire said downheartedly.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"But what about the future, do you remember all of this? Will it be okay?" Starfire asked him.

Nightwing looked out, "It's funny. I _do_ remember it. Sort of, but I remember watching Batman fight Slade, not me. I just didn't make the connection. So everything happened as I remember it, sort of, if that makes sense.""

Starfire gazed down and nodded. Nightwing commented, "It's really hot out here. Hotter than I remember."

Starfire laughed, "It might be because you are wearing the black in that uniform."

Nightwing looked down and nodded. He took off the cape and the black gloves. Then he pulled out the piece of Warp's technology.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to obtain that for you," Starfire apologized.

"Don't be." Nightwing said, "I got it, anyway."

"Are you going to leave just now?" Starfire asked sadly.

Nightwing caught her gaze. He loved being back where he had been as a teenager. He wouldn't deny that. It felt refreshing. But as he looked at her, he was reminded of those same eyes, the ones in the future, who he worried were confused or hurt or fretting over him.

"I have to return this stuff and then I'll go." Nightwing said, and grabbed her hand, "I'm needed back home."

Starfire nodded and felt a tear whelling up in her eye. But then she noticed something. The feeling of metal. But before she could see what it was, Nightwing let go.

"Robin needs you right now." Nightwing told her, "Just tell him Batman went back to Gotham ."

Starfire smiled and watched as Nightwing went up into the Bat-Plane. He waved from the top and she playfully waved back, "I'll see you soon, Princess."

Starfire beamed at the nickname. She could tell that he wasn't calling her that just because of her royal status. She liked it. Her eye caught something shining back at her on his hand, on one of his fingers. Then he jumped inside the Bat-Plane, whose engine began to purr and rumble. In an instant it was gone and flying over the Jump City skyline. It was ready to go home.

Soon, Starfire stopped waving good-bye and went downstairs to the med bay. Walking inside, she found Robin tentatively trying to stand up.

"Will you not hurt yourself by doing that?" She asked.

Robin laughed, "Just worth a try. Hey, did Batman leave? I thought I heard the engine start up."

Starfire nodded and sat down in the chair next to him as he replied, "Didn't expect him to stay long anyway."

"He said that there was trouble in Gotham." she told him.

"Isn't there always?" He mockingly laughed at the answer.

Star asked him, "When did Raven say that you would be better?"

"Tomorrow, if I stay off my feet," Robin told her, "It feels great to be home, you know? I think the worst thing about being... chased after by Slade is that when I'm not here, I'm not with you guys."

"We missed you." She told him.

Robin smiled, "I did too."

"Slade has... vanished." She commented.

"Let him." Robin said.

Starfire raised an eyebrow in confusion. But the reason for the answer was quite simple for Robin. It was that Slade would resurface eventually. And he didn't want to think about Slade right now. He just didn't. He wanted to be a teenager right now: A teenager who was going to hang out with his friends that evening. He met Starfire's gaze.

"He's not worth it right now." He told her, "Just you guys are."

Starfire blushed as Robin grabbed her hand and gave it a tight sqeeze. It was good to have him home.

-T-

The Bat-Plane landing was smooth when Nightwing got to the Batcave. Nightwing jumped out and shook his head. He had changed out of the Bat-suit and was ready to go home. All that was left was to find the owner of the estate and return the clothes.

"He's out on patrol." a crisp British voice answered and Nightwing glanced over to see Alfred cleaning some of the trophies.

"I'll leave it right here then." He said.

"You do that, sir." Alfred answered, "Have a good ride home."

"Thanks Alfred." Richard answered.

As he placed the Bat-suit down he sighed and closed his eyes. He hoped that Bruce would know how much he had appreciated what he had done. He took out the time-tech and found a clear space. With one last look at the surrounding area, Nightwing turned on the technology and a bright lighted passage appeared. Alfred raised an eyebrow as Nightwing walked up to it and paused briefly.

Then Nightwing walked through at the portal in time vanished. Alfred then shrugged and continued to clean. When Nightwing came out of the stream of time, he found himself in the Batcave once again. Batman was at his console and barely looked up when he heard the sound.

"Nightwing." He said.

"Sorry I couldn't ring the doorbell," Nightwing answered sarcastically.

"It's fine," Batman responded gruffly.

Nightwing nodded, "Is Tim around?"

"He's at the Tower," Batman said.

"So he won't mind me borrowing his bike?"

Batman looked over at Nightwing breifly and went back to work. Nightwing walked over to the garage, but turned to his mentor before leaving.

"Thanks." He said.

Batman stopped his work and looked up at Nightwing, "You're welcome."

Nightwing nodded and went into the garage to grab Tim's bike. It didn't take him long before he was on the highway, riding fast back to Bludhaven. While it only took a little while, all things considered, to him, it felt like it was taking forever. Even as he got within a block of his apartment he became fidgity and impatient. He quickly stowed away Tim's bike and didn't even bother to take off his costume and instead, he went (stealthly) up to his apartment. Opening up the door, he was met by the morning smell of fresh waffles and bacon.

Kori turned at the sound of the door. She instantly beamed. Not even caring that the front door was open, she instantly dropped what she was doing and flew up and caught him in a bone crushing hug.

"Richard!"

"Man, I missed your hugs!" He yelled hugging her back.

"You're back!" She replied, smiling, her long hair still wet from an earlier shower.

He sniffed at her shampood hair and held her close, "So you never told me?"

"About what?"

"About seeing me on the needle?"

Kori looked at him and then blushed, "So that's where you were?"

"Yes and you have no idea how much I missed you every time I saw you." Nightwing said as he kicked the door closed.

"I didn't know," She answered.

"You do now." Richard replied.

The two looked at each other. Then Richard went in for a kiss, which Kori returned. She could feel his heart beating, adrenaline from happiness affected it, while he could feel her calm disposition, lovingly holding him. They broke and looked at each other. For a moment, the feeling of being reunited was wonderful. Richard felt his chest swell as he looked at her, remembering everything that she had done, everything she was, and everything she meant to him.

"You have no idea how much I love you." He said.

"You don't know how much I love you either." She replied back.

He kissed her again on the forehead, when she asked, "So how did you get back here again?"

"Um..."

"You didn't take Tim's bike again, did you?"

Nightwing smiled and laughed as Kori shook her head. Her Robin was definintely home.

-T-

The cold and dirty streets were littered in the darkness. The smell of industrial smoke and car fumes laced the air. It was like stepping in rotting material just on the sidewalk. The clouds in the dark blue sky did nothing to improve the spirits of the residents. It was almost like the city's only lights were fake luminiscent lights fading as the light traveled through the air.

Gotham .

Nice place, during the day... almost. Not so friendly at night.

One wouldn't see anyone in cars unless they were cops or in the gang of the surrounding area. The wind chilled the area and blew the cape around the legend's shoulders. His eyes surveyed the area as he sat upon the gargoyal. He could hear people walking a block away. They had better get home quickly.

Something shatters and the bat turns his head. In an instant, he's disappeared into the night.

A couple screams. Someone being thrown. Who's disturbing the night this time?

"I swear, I didn't mean to..." The man stops as his throat is grabbed.

_"Do you want to be the one I take my anger out on?"_

"No, sir! I'm sorry sir..."

_"Then stay out of my way."_

The sound of a fluttering cape and two feet landing in a puddle.

"I was wondering when you would show up," The man said, not turning around.

Batman scanned the man and recognized him from description. "Slade, this is a long ways away from Jump."

"Where else would I go, Batman? I'm not in a good mood, there's always a fight to be made in Gotham that nobody would care about. Just ask Luthor." Slade said, talking as a gentleman would to a gentleman.

"Except me, of course," Batman answered.

Slade laughed, "Who I don't really care about anyway."

"Go home, Slade."

Slade stood there, but turned to face Batman. Batman could tell from his presence that this man was not insane nor drunk, unlike many people that he saw causing trouble in the middle of the night. But he wasn't sane either. What was certain was that he was dangerous, yet not looking to fight him. He wasn't here to cause real trouble.

"You lost, I presume?"

"Never. In time Batman, I'll win," Slade told him, almost joking, but serious at the same time. "He becomes a fine young man, you must know."

Batman's eyes narrowed. So it was anger, anger at loss.

"Robin's destiny is his own choice, Slade." Batman answered.

"Are you proud by what you saw, Bats?" Slade said, smiling beneath the mask.

"Go home, Slade." Batman repeated.

Slade sighed, stubborn and not ready to do as Batman was telling him to. Batman watched Slade closely. He wasn't getting the most stable vibe from Slade's character. And it seemed like losing just made him all the more dangerous to be around. He could only guess that Slade was here to forget the loss by replacing the feeling with adrenaline and danger and that once he got that, he would be calm again and ready for his next battle. But maybe an answer would satisfy him instead.

"I've always been proud of him." Batman told him, "And still am."

Slade leaned against the wall of one of the buildings that made up the alley way. Batman eyed the man wishing that this could all end soon.

"I'll go home. But watch yourself, Bats, and the kid. That's all I can say," Slade said.

Batman's eyes widened and he then saw Slade pull out a bo-staff. He reached for a pair of cuffs but even as it reached his hands, the cuffs were knocked away. He hit a smoke bomb and instantly he retreated in the dark cover. He scanned the area as the smoke cleared. Nothing but the men who had already been knocked out. He quickly grappled up to the roof and saw no signs, nor did he hear anything. He signaled his car and waited. Slade was good. He'd give him that.

It didn't surprise him that Robin had caught Slade's eye while the man had been searching for a successer. And it didn't surprise him that Robin would be willing to fight him, fight for his freedom, fight for his friends and family. Bruce admired that. It made him proud, not because he had trained him, but because it was Dick Grayson who had done it and accomplished that.

He smiled.

_'The Teen Wonder title should really be used more,'_ he thought, _'He's not really a little kid anymore anyway.'_

With that, the Dark Knight disappeared into his car and became lost in the streets of Gotham .

**The End**

-T-

**A/N:** Well, I gave you the "And They Lived Happily Ever After" part. But as you all must know by now, I can't help but throw in Slade at the end of a story. By the way, anonymous review replies from Chapter Eleven to Chapter Fifteen will be posted on my Putfile Homepage for about a month after the ending of this story. Again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read this story! You guys rock! Also, for those of you wondering what my next two multi-chapter stories are going to be about, you check on my homepage under "Coming Soon" for that. They are a bit of a break from Robin vs. Slade, but each deal with one of those characters or another and I hope they'll be enjoyable for everyone to read. Thank you all again so much for reading! Later!

Rena


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